Gudako and the Great Holy Grail War
by goddessofshadows7212
Summary: Gudako, desperate for more SSRs, accepts a mystery man's offer to replace a Master in a Great Holy Grail War. With knowledge of the future and her only SSR fighting beside her in real life, Gudako plots to mess up the entire storyline just for the 1000 Saint Quartz reward. Inspired by revdb's Insane Gudako story.
1. Chapter 1

**This resulted from reading revdb's** _ **Insane Gudako**_ **and my own frustrations in FGO (with the exception of Karna). I have permission from revdb to re-use this concept for my own story. Also, Gudako isn't as crazy as the one in Riyo's comics. She's insane…in a special way. Enjoy!**

* * *

It should have been a regular day at Chaldea. Well, as normal as a day could be when the rest of humanity was theoretically destroyed and the future resting on the shoulders of a single human girl. A break day had been announced, much to the delight of the Servants, who were either sparring outside or doing whatever they wanted in the common rooms or their own rooms.

Robin and Drake were conversing when they heard a scream of frustration around the corner. Recognizing the familiar voice of their Master, they sighed in resignation and went to find their Master with an angry look on their face.

"Captain Gudako..." Drake started, but the orange-haired female Master waved her off.

"It's fine, it's fine," Gudako said, her initial anger gone to be replaced with dejection. "Your rate-up day was today and I rolled nothing but Black Keys."

"If you're trying to summon me, why didn't you just ask me to roll for you?" Drake asked.

"Remember the last time you did? You got me 4 copies of Gilles and a billion Black Keys."

The pirate sighed in resignation. "Right."

"Asking me is out of the question then," Robin said. "I remember the last time _I_ tried, I ended up getting you nothing but mapo."

"And I burnt them for mana prisms...this game is giving me a headache," Gudako groaned. "I don't get it. I've summoned all of you here to Chaldea and I can't even get most of you in a mobile game! Where did I get all the E-ranked luck from? I give up...maybe I should ask Dr. Roman for some more money since Jackie's rate-up day is in a few days...or I should go drop off the Black Keys I just summoned here today to Amakusa...whatever. See you around, Drake, Robin."

The pirate and the mercenary exchanged concerned glances for their Master as they watched her walk down the hallway.

* * *

Gudako lay on her bed, busy farming hands. While Drake hadn't been summoned, she had managed to get Medea to NP5 and decided that farming some Caster EXP cards wouldn't be too bad. After defeating the last wave, her phone's battery level had dropped to 5%. She plugged in her phone and began listlessly scrolling through her Servant list. "Ugh...3 stars, more 3 stars, 2 SRs, there's Mashu..." Her voice trailed off as she saw her one beacon of hope in the accursed game known as Fate Grand/Order.

Karna. She had somehow summoned him when she first downloaded the game (it had already existed for a while before she decided to play and she now had him grailed to 100 and his skills were nearing 10/10/10) and knew that it was the only time she'd probably have good luck in the game. Her prediction came true when she progressed through the game-no SSR ever came to her. Their rate-up days produced even more Black Keys and mapo for her.

Gudako groaned and started rolling around on her bed. "I just want more SSRs in this stupid game that probably shouldn't have existed in this world in the first place!" She closed her eyes, moaning in frustration.

"Is that really all you want right now?" A voice asked.

Gudako's eyes shot open and she sat up. "Who is it?" Looking around carefully, she realized she wasn't in her own room, instead standing in some dark, empty place. "A dream...alright, who is it?" She asked crossly. "Solomon, if you're going to laugh at me, at least do it where I can see your arrogant face." Yet deep down, she hoped it wasn't the King of Magic. The last thing she needed to see after her failure at rolling another SSR was to see the face of the being that threatened humanity's future.

"You valiantly battle with your Servants for Humanity's future, yet when it comes to a mobile game, you're reduced to an ordinary fangirl with issues over not managing to roll Gilgamesh or Ozymandias. Come on, aren't you happy with Karna?"

"Of course I am!" Gudako said. "I just want more SSRs so I can blast the enemies easier, okay?! I don't even have an SR Archer to beat up Saber-class enemies and Robin just won't cut it. An SR Caster would also be nice and..." She started rambling, and the voice cut her off with a small cough.

"As amusing as it is to watch you agonize over your terrible luck in the mobile Fate/Grand Order, I have a proposition for you."

"Reveal yourself first before that."

"Sharp as always, Gudako." An old man with red eyes materialized in front of her, and Gudako gaped.

"You're that old guy on that 5 star Craft Essence!"

"That 'old guy on that 5 star Craft Essence' has a name, you know."

"Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, I know," Gudako said, an astonished expression still on her face. "The Wizard Marshall and the Dead Apostle Ancestor who mastered the Second Magic."

"Oh, so you have heard of me! That clears things up, then?"

"No. What do you want with me? Going to tell me about a timeline where I fail and the world's going to burn?"

"No, but it did happen. Like I said earlier, I have a proposition for you."

Gudako's apprehension was replaced with curiosity. "What is it?"

"Have you heard of the Great Holy Grail War?"

"Yeah. Astolfo and Jeanne talk about it occasionally. 14 Servants divided into two factions of 7. Their's took place in Romania. Vlad gets really annoyed when they talk about it because he got betrayed by his Master in that war. Karna, Amakusa and Siegfried were in there as well, right?"

"Among other Servants, yes. Would you like to participate in it?"

Gudako gaped at Zelretch.

Zelretch laughed at the look on her face. "I'm being serious, by the way. With the Second Magic, I'll be able to transport you to another domain of the Kaleidoscope for a while, and you will retain all your knowledge and your magic circuits."

"Uh, I have a world to save here?"

"Relax, it's only going to be for a few days. You guys are nowhere near finding Solomon."

"What's in it for me and why are you even asking me?"

"Just an experiment. As for what's in it for you...you're low on Saint Quartz, right?"

"Down to zero," Gudako confirmed with a dejected face.

"500 quartz and complete knowledge of the events in the Great Holy Grail War, plus your Servant will be Karna."

Gudako's eyes shone. "You're serious?! 500 quartz?! And Karna?! Wait, you're not joking, right? I've heard way too many times that you're a complete troll."

"I'm being serious this time. 1000 quartz, then?"

At this point, Gudako had literal stars in her eyes.

Zelretch chuckled at her expression. "Let's shake on it, shall we? I'll transport you to the Clock Tower and handle most of the negotiations. You get 500 quartz as an advance payment." He held out his hand.

Gudako nodded excitedly and took his hand. "Deal."

 **Zelretch is a troll. What would happen if he met Merlin?**


	2. Chapter 2

"Never again..." Gudako moaned as she lay on the ground of Zelretch's rather nice office in the Clock Tower. "Whatever method you used to travel across the Kaleidoscope, it's worse than Rayshifting."

Zelretch laughed at her discomfort. "You're going to have to go through the same feeling when I send you back. Now get up, I need to talk with a few people before you can get Karna's catalyst."

Gudako's eyes lit up at the mention of summoning Karna and sat up, her previous nausea already disappearing. "Who are we going to talk to?"

"Rocco Belfaban and Feend vor Sembren to start, and if too many complications pop up, Lord El-Melloi II."

"Waver's in this timeline as well?"

"He's in most timelines. Now, let's go."

"Wait-wait-wait...oh good, my phone's with me. Wait, how is it at 100%?!"

"I tweaked its functions on the trip here. It runs off your own mana, which shouldn't be a problem since your apples can now replenish your depleted mana."

Zelretch led Gudako out into the hallway and began walking briskly in one direction, the younger female scrambling to follow him as she checked out the new features her phone now had. Looking up briefly as she saw Zelretch turn a corner, she noticed looks of fear and apprehension on the faces of the mages they passed, all of them staring at Zelretch with visible trepidation. Gudako shrugged and went back to farming hands. Magically, FGO also didn't need WiFi to run.

The two stopped in front of a door with the name "Rocco Belfaban" inscribed on it, and Zelretch casually opened it, letting himself and Gudako in.

An old man, adjusting his glasses, looked up to scowl at whoever had entered without his permission. His scowl quickly died away into a look of apprehension upon seeing Zelretch. "W-wizard Marshall!"

"Hello there, Rocco," Zelretch said cheerfully. "I assume you're expecting Professor von Sembren in a few more minutes?"

Rocco nodded slowly, still shocked at the fact that Zelretch _himself_ had sauntered into his office. "Might I ask who the girl behind you is?"

"I'm Gudako, nice to meet you!" Gudako momentarily looked up with a grin before resuming her farming.

"She's an apprentice-in-training," Zelretch said smoothly. "I brought her here for a special purpose. Let's wait for Professor vor Sembren, shall we?"

The bewildered man could only nod slowly as he motioned for them to sit. Gudako, now farming ascension and skill-up materials, grinned as a Forbidden Page dropped from a defeated Spellbook. She had needed just one more to ascend Medea.

Soon enough, a person knocked at the door. "Come in," Rocco called.

The door opened to reveal a black-haired man who had a box in one hand and an arrogant smile on his face. The smile dropped immediately to be replaced with hidden fear as he stared at Zelretch. "Wizard Marshall...!"

"Hello, hello," Zelretch said pleasantly. "Why don't you come in? I was waiting to talk to you."

Feend took the farthest route away from Zelretch as he could to Rocco's chair, placing the box on his desk. "If I may ask, what brings you here today, Wizard Marshall? And who is the girl behind you?"

"She is an apprentice-in-training of mine. And I already said I wanted to talk with you," Zelretch said. "I'll be straight for once. Feend vor Sembren, I want you to drop out of the Great Holy Grail War."

Feend's mouth dropped open, while Rocco simply stared at Zelretch in shock. "Come again...?" The older magus stuttered.

"Y-you can't be serious, Wizard Marshall," Feend stammered. "This is the only chance I have at reaching the Root!"

"Hm. I distinctly recall too many magi saying that and all dying in their quest for the Holy Grail. I will repeat this once. Drop out of the Great Holy Grail War. If you participate, you will lose your Servant even before the war officially starts."

"W-what do you mean? I've already done research on my hero's legend. There's no way I'd lose him even before the war starts!"

"You'd be surprised," Zelretch said calmly. "I will tell you of your fate should you participate: you will be poisoned, have your Servant stolen, and ultimately die before you even meet your Servant face to face. The same fate has happened to you in nearly all the domains of the Kaleidoscope I've visited with the Great Holy Grail War in it."

Feend stared at Zelretch in shock. "Then what am I supposed to do?"

"Drop out of the war. Let Gudako here participate for you."

Gudako finally looked up from her phone, waving at Feend. His face darkened into one of disdain and skepticism, but Gudako simply stared back. She had to deal with Alter Cu glaring at her in Chaldea, and his death glares were _much_ scarier.

"What can this _child_ do?"

"Like I said, she is an apprentice-in-training of mine. Not officially at least, but in her domain of the Kaleidoscope, she is much more capable than most magi in the Clock Tower. I assure you, she is stronger than she looks. Anyways, I believe you have a class soon?"

Feend sputtered incoherently, while Rocco was still stuck in his shocked state.

Zelretch grinned at their expressions. "Let's give them a few more minutes, shall we?"

Gudako groaned. "Now I know why you're such a troll."

* * *

"Uwahhh! So this is Karna's catalyst?" Gudako said in excitement as she gazed at the tarnished piece of golden armour.

"Of course," Zelretch said. "Didn't you use the same thing to summon him to Chaldea?"

"I stole a piece of his bodysuit in America for a catalyst," Gudako admitted. "So, how does a summoning for a Grail War work?"

"You're going to directly summon him from your Chaldea so that there won't be any complications. You already have the 500 quartz with you, so the rest of this job is for you to do."

"Oh, so it's easier then!" Gudako took 3 quartz out of her phone and tossed it into the middle of the circle along with Karna's catalyst, and then activated her circuits, sending a burst of mana into the circle to activate it. The circle glowed with rainbow-coloured orbs, spinning rapidly before converging in the centre of the circle. 3 circles of light expanded around the circle, indicating the appearance of a Servant. Gudako squealed in delight as a figure began to materialize. After a few seconds, the light died down to reveal Karna, the merest trace of confusion in his aquamarine eyes.

"Master Gudako...?"

"Karnacchi!" Gudako gasped in delight.

Karna looked around, taking in his surroundings. "I do not know of the circumstances that caused me to be summoned as a Servant when I was already summoned in Chaldea...yet I can tell that this is Holy Grail War. Gudako, what did you do?"

"I accepted Zelretch's offer to participate in the Great Holy Grail War for some Saint Quartz," Gudako replied. "Have you guys realized I disappeared yet?"

"No," Karna replied. "Drake and Robin told everyone that you were sulking in your room, and Mashu said not to bother you until the next day. And Gudako, you were talking about the Great Holy Grail War, right?"

"Eh? Oh, yeah. Your former Master's alive and not a participant in the war, if that's what you were asking." Gudako knew Karna had been deeply loyal to Feend in the Great Holy Grail War that he remembered, even if the magus and Servant had never met.

"Is it really all right to abandon your mission to Chaldea, Master?"

"Only for a few days, right? Don't worry, with your help and my knowledge of the Great Holy Grail War that I got from you and the others, I think we can shorten this war according to my agenda."

"While the circumstances for this War is different...I will say this. My spear is yours, Master Gudako. I swore that when you summoned me to Chaldea, and even now, I am your Servant. I will aid you in this quest."

"Yay! You're the best, Karnacchi! By the way, I didn't pull you away from anything that would trip the alarms, right?"

"I do not think so, but I was sparring with Siegfried when you summoned me here. He would have raised the alarms."

"Oops. Oh well, let's just get this over with, then!"

"So you're all set?" Zelretch asked. "One more thing, Gudako."

"Eh?"

"You may have partial knowledge of the goings-on of this war from conversations with other Servants, but if you want to survive, you will need full knowledge of the entire event. So here." A large book materialized in Zelretch's hands and he tossed it at Gudako, who staggered under the weight of it. "Well then, I'll take my leave. You'll get your 500 quartz once the war's over." And with that, Zelretch disappeared.

Gudako stared at the place where Zelretch disappeared. "...He's worse than Merlin."

"..."

"Anyways, Zelretch was nice enough to give me first-class plane tickets to Romania. Let's go and throw wrenches in everything that happens, shall we?"

"..."


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow, I didn't expect such a positive response for the first two chapters! Thank you to all the followers, favourites, and reviews!**

 **I reply to reviews at the beginning of each chapter.**

 **CD123505** **: Here's the update! I decided not to make Gudako a Servant as she needs some limitations as to what she could do. She's still going to be badass, so don't worry.**

 **Nazareth Crusader: I was originally debating whether or not 500 quartz was worth it, and then decided to change it to 1000. And yeah,** **Apocrypha's timeline is quite messed up. Gudako's just going to mess with it more.**

 **Weirdo (guest): Thank you! :)**

 **arkzero: More servants from Chaldea or more from Apocrypha canon? Obviously everyone in Apocrypha is going to show up, but Gudako summoning more Servants straight from Chaldea is debatable. And to whoever that person is, I feel sorry for them. 1000 quartz and no SSR…I'd probably go insane and delete FGO.**

 **Saru (guest): My problems with Apocrypha included the fact that Karna barely received any screen time. Even with that fight against Sieg…yeah, I'm going to stop before I cry over his death again.**

 **Inveigler: I'd do it for 500 quartz. Actually, I'd do it for even 50 quartz if it meant fighting with Karna. I'm a bit desperate.**

 **Enjoy chapter 3!**

"Romania's quite pretty, don't you think? No minor singularity has ever been here, so this is my first time seeing it." Gudako was walking in the streets of Shigisoara with Karna beside her. Gudako was currently wearing her standard white and black Chaldea uniform, while Karna was in a formal black suit.

"It is," Karna replied laconically. "More importantly, Gudako, have you planned out your meeting with Amakusa Shirou?"

"Hm...somewhat," Gudako replied. "According to what Amakusa told me back at Chaldea, he had convinced the Masters to summon their Servants together and then controlled them with the help of Semiramis's poisoned tea. So accepting anything from them is a no-go. Mordred told me her Master apparently was a latecomer and travelled separately from the others. We have two choices: ally with Mordred and Shishigo Kairi or blackmail Semiramis and Amakusa into letting us stay in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon when it launches. Honestly, I think the latter is a better idea. What do you think, Karna?"

"I believe staying with Mordred and her Master will be safer for you, Gudako, but there is an advantage to staying close to Amakusa Shirou Tokisada and the Queen of Assyria. We would be able to monitor their actions and you would most likely take the opportunity to manipulate them since you know of their future actions."

"Ehehe, nothing gets past you, does it? I'm guessing Discernment of the Poor is a passive skill now, right?"

Karna nodded.

"Let's see...I checked your stats when I first summoned you here, and I'll make sure one more time. Level 90 but I'm making sure you're staying in your second ascension armour so that Kavacha and Kundala are active. Actually, do levels even matter in regular Grail Wars? Your only active skill is your Mana Burst of Flames, which will be mana-intensive for me but I have apples to make up for it. And you are NOT going to use Vasavi Shakti, okay? Use Brahmastra Kundala or anything else, but not Vasavi Shakti."

"Understood, Gudako."

"Anything else we can settle later. Oh, looks like this is the place." Gudako stopped in front of a church. "Karna, can you dematerialize for now? Keep an eye out for any traps."

Karna nodded and dissolved into astral form. Taking a second to compose herself, Gudako turned on her phone and went through the list of Mystic Codes she had. "The standard uniform probably won't help much...the swimsuit is a bad idea...oh yes, the battlesuit will do nicely." Tapping once on the icon, Gudako smiled as her outfit changed to her orange and white battlesuit.

Confidently, she strode to the doors of the church.

* * *

"I just remembered why I don't like churches...they're creepy when they're empty," Gudako complained as she walked down the aisle to the altar. "Hey! Anyone home?"

"Oh? Who might you be?" A man stepped out from behind the altar.

Gudako fought down the urge to wave at a Servant she was quite familiar with back in Chaldea, and opted for a smile. "I believe I'm the second-last Master to join the Red Faction in the Great Holy Grail War? My name's Gudako."

Amakusa's eyebrow lifted just a fraction. "The Mages' Association contacted me and said they were replacing Feend vor Sembren with someone Wizard Marshall Zelretch personally put forward...and you are that person?"

"Yup!" Gudako said. "Who are you, by the way?"

"My name is Kotomine Shirou, the mediator for this war, and a Master of the Red Faction. Do you know about the details of this war?"

 _Kotomine...ah, why did he have to choose the last name of the guy I hate the most besides Solomon?_ "Red Faction versus the Black Faction of Yggdmillenia, the Red Masters are supposed to be from the Mages' Association, and we're supposed to be taking back the Greater Grail. I guess I know enough."

"I see. Then, will you show your Servant? I will show mine as well."

Gudako shrugged. "Go ahead, Lancer." _I'm going to have to get used to calling you Lancer,_ she mentally thought to Karna.

 _If not for the other lancers you summoned to Chaldea, you would have called me that all the time,_ Karna replied, materializing in full armour.

Behind Amakusa, a beautiful woman dressed in black and with pointed ears materialized, a dangerous smirk on her face as she assessed Gudako. Gudako stared back refusing to back down. _She reminds me of Gilgamesh. Well, she was a ruler and was associated with Babylon...which means I'll have to be careful around her. Gil's Archer personality is most like her...Amakusa wasn't lying when he described her to me back in Chaldea._

"Such nice eyes for such a young girl," Semiramis commented as she gazed at Gudako. "Already looking like they're filled with experience beyond your age, and not afraid to stare down a proud ruler."

Gudako shrugged before curtsying to Semiramis. "I don't know who you are but you appear to be ancient royalty."

Assassin of Red's smirk only widened. "Oh, and already deferential to the one clearly above her in rank. I approve of you and your Servant, child."

"Thank you for that, my Queen," Gudako replied.

 _Is all this shallow flattery really necessary?_ Karna asked.

 _No, she's probably seeing through me, but being polite won't hurt. At least she seems easier to deal with than Gilgamesh's Archer personality. Lucky for me, she doesn't seem to call people mongrels._

"Shall we discuss a bit more about the Red Faction's plans? We are expecting the last Master tomorrow, so we should start deciding on how to handle the Black Faction."

"Sure," Gudako said with a shrug.

"Please follow me to the back, then."

 _Here it comes. Obviously I don't have a high magic resistance, so we're going to fight our way out if necessary, Karna._

 _Understood, Gudako._

* * *

"Please sit," Amakusa invited as he let them into a dimly-lit room with comfortable-looking couches. Gudako picked the one closest to the door, Karna standing beside her.

Semiramis materialized with a pot of tea, handing it to Amakusa. He poured cups for both of them.

"Thanks," Gudako said, but didn't touch it.

"You don't like tea?" Amakusa asked.

"No thanks, it tastes like bitter leaf water." In truth, Gudako quite liked tea, but she knew the tea Semiramis prepared was probably poisonous.

"Do you want some water, then?"

"Nah, I'm fine...after all, you two are planning on stealing Karna from me once you incapacitate me with a poisoned drink...right? After all, all you want is the Greater Grail...Amakusa Shirou Tokisada."

The shocked expression on Semiramis's face was priceless, and Gudako snickered, snapping a picture with her phone to save for later. Meanwhile, Amakusa simply smiled, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "You aren't a normal mage, aren't you?"

"Who knows," Gudako said. "Shall we handle this matter civilly or do you want a fight? As a Ruler-class Servant, I bet you've already figured out Lancer's true identity. And I do have some tricks up my sleeve."

Semiramis recovered from her shock and gestured, a magic circle forming on her hand and firing a chain at Gudako. Karna blocked the chain before it came within 2 metres of Gudako, sliding into his battle stance. Gudako simply aimed one pointer finger at Amakusa, who hadn't moved, and spoke. " _Gandr_."

A bolt of black shot from Gudako's finger. Faster than what even Semiramis could see, the bolt connected with Amakusa's chest, blowing him back with a grunt of surprise. Semiramis rushed over to his side. "Master!"

"I cannot move my body...is this your power, Gudako?" Amakusa asked.

"Actually, it's one of the spells from my mystic code. You shouldn't be incapacitated for too long. Now, can we get to negotiations? I don't plan on actively going against you two."

"Then what do you want, child?" Semiramis hissed.

"Let Karna and I stay in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon for the duration of the war and give us free rein to mess with the Black Faction whenever we want. I will take orders from Amakusa if they fit my goals. In exchange, I can give you knowledge about your possible futures, as I am, as you may or may not have figured out, a magus from the future, brought here by Zelretch." _Eh, I can deal with the consequences for revealing this too early. It's the only way for them to let me go crazy anyways._

"So you know how the war will turn out in the end?" Amakusa asked.

"There's a bunch of possibilities. Obviously if I tell you now the current timeline is going to be messed up, and I don't want that happening. I also know the identities of the Servants in the Black Faction and that you guys plan on stealing the Greater Grail from the Yggdmillenia family as soon as you gather enough supplies for Queen Semiramis's Noble Phantasm."

"You know much more than anyone else should in this world...I will believe that you are someone from the future, then. It can't be helped. I will agree to your conditions, but you will tell me everything that can happen to my plan."

"Yes, yes, humanity's salvation, I get it. Are we good, then? Contact me if you have any orders for me. Now, if you don't mind, we're going. Let's go, Lancer."

Gudako spun and left the room, Karna briefly glancing over at Amakusa and Semiramis before following her.

"She'll ruin our plans," Semiramis stated when they were out of earshot. "I can tell. She is not afraid to face even the greatest adversaries of this world, and despite my growing respect for her abilities and personality, we should eliminate her."

"She'll be hard to incapacitate even without her Servant to protect her," Amakusa stated, pushing himself up and dusting off his clothes. Picking up a piece of paper Gudako had dropped, he noted the phone number written on it. "We should tread carefully around her. With her on our side for now, we will have the advantage in information."

"Understood, Master."

* * *

"Phew, I thought they were actually going to kill me," Gudako said, skipping out of the church. "I think that went quite well, though. Thanks for helping out, Karnacchi."

"It is a Servant's duty to protect their Master. Now, what will you do?" Karna had dematerialized his armour in favour of the black suit he had been wearing earlier. Gudako had changed back into the Chaldea uniform.

"Hm...Mordred and her Master are only going to come here tomorrow afternoon. Jeanne's not showing up until tomorrow night, when you were scheduled to attack her. I don't have any real money on me, but I can project some Romanian money. Luckily projected money can last for a few days, and we'll be long gone before then. I'll find a decent place to stay for the night and get some food, and we can make some plans for the rest of the war."

"You will most likely have a target on your back thanks to the Queen of Assyria," Karna warned. "She is very suspicious about you."

"As expected," Gudako said dismissively. "She's like Medea and Gilgamesh's personalities mixed together but a billion times more evil and manipulative than Medea. I can trust you to protect me anyways. Anyways, should we find an inn or something?"

Karna nodded.

"Great! Let's go, then!"

* * *

Chaldea was currently in a state of emergency.

The only Master and human who could possibly save humanity had disappeared, and the staff and Servants were in a panic.

To be honest, Dr. Roman and Mashu probably wouldn't have known Gudako was missing until a day after her disappearance, but after Siegfried burst into Dr. Roman's office exclaiming that a summoning circle had appeared under Karna and forcibly teleported him somewhere else in the middle of a spar, Mashu had went to find her senpai...

...only to find that Gudako was missing from her room, her phone gone as well but her charger still plugged into the wall.

A facility-wide search had been issued to all the Servants to find their missing Master, but she hadn't been found. Dr. Roman and Da Vinci had also stated that no one had Rayshifted out of Chaldea at that time, causing many to believe that Gudako had been abducted by Solomon. Karna's disappearance was also a mystery.

Dr. Roman was currently pacing around his office, agitation clear in his features. Da Vinci looked on, irritation at him clear on her face but hints of worry over Gudako were also present. Mashu had been sent with some other level-headed Servants to make sure the more chaotic Servants didn't cause trouble now that their sole Master was gone.

"It just doesn't make sense!" Dr. Roman finally spoke. "I'd understand if only Gudako went missing, but Karna as well?! This doesn't match up with anything I've ever read about!"

Da Vinci sighed before clearing her throat to cut off Roman's next tirade. "Roman! Just calm down for a few minutes and think clearly! You've been pacing around for the last hour!"

"How can I when humanity's future is at stake?! Solomon's going to win at this rate and we can't do anything!" Roman resumed pacing around, and then yelped as Da Vinci grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him to look at her.

"ROMANI. ARCHAMAN. CALM. DOWN."

Roman winced. He knew Da Vinci was dead serious when she used his full name, and with her sternest tone of voice at that. "Fine. What am I supposed to do?"

"The first thing you can do is stop panicking and help out with calming down the staff."

A knock was heard at the door, and Da Vinci released Roman. "Come in."

A certain Saber-class Servant, also known as Arthur Pendragon, walked into the room. "Dr. Roman, Da Vinci, I think I found a clue as to Master Gudako's whereabouts."

Dr. Roman's eyes lit up. "Where is she?!"

Arthur had a distinct look of discomfort on his face as he pulled out a Craft Essence out of his pocket. The card depicted a bearded old man. "I was talking with Arturia when I heard a voice come from my pocket. It appeared to come from the Craft Essence, and it said it knew where Master was."

"The Craft Essence spoke?!" Da Vinci exclaimed.

Dr. Roman gestured for Arthur to hand over the card to him, and examined it. "Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg...master of the Second Magic and the only one to traverse the vast worlds of the Kaleidoscope, hence the name of this Craft Essence. It gives you a huge burst of mana so you can immediately cast your Noble Phantasm. Gudako gave it to you so you could use Excalibur right off the bat."

 _"Ho, you know about me as well? Like the male King of Knights has stated, I do know where she is."_

Dr. Roman yelped and dropped the card. "What?!"

Da Vinci grabbed the card before it fell on the ground. "Return Gudako and Karna back to Chaldea immediately! How are you even speaking through this card?"

 _"Perceptive, as expected of Leonardo da Vinci. Gudako and Karna are currently participating in a Holy Grail War in another domain of the Kaleidoscope. Rest assured, they are fine. And as to how I can talk through a Craft Essence...after all, wherever there is a 'concept' of my being written in the records of the world, I can use that actualized concept to speak to you. Don't try to understand it, the Second Magic is quite, quite complicated. I will return Gudako and Karna to you after one week. It's the same war Vlad III, Astolfo, Siegfried, Jeanne d'Arc, Mordred, and Atalanta participated in."_

"The Great Holy Grail War...but Gudako has never been in a real Holy Grail War before!"

 _"Relax, she has enough experience after 7 singularities where she risked her life far more than a single Grail War. Karna's there to protect her as well. She's more capable than any other Master, I'll give her that."_

"What reason do you have for sending her there?!"

 _"A little experiment of mine. She willingly agreed."_

"How...?!"

"The answer is obvious to that one, Roman," Da Vinci sighed. "Gudako's obsessed with Saint Quartz. Zelretch probably bribed her."

 _"Correct! 1000 quartz, no more and no less."_

"Gudako..." Roman groaned and dragged his hand over his face. "What if we locate Solomon before the week ends? What if he ends up destroying us when we're at our most vulnerable? What if another singularity pops up?"

 _"Not of my concern, but you can last one week without her. Oh, looks like my time's up."_ The Craft Essence promptly started smoking, and Da Vinci dropped it. It disintegrated into thin air.

Arthur gaped as he watched his Craft Essence destroy itself. "I suppose I'll have to pick out another one from storage..."

"This is a mess," Dr. Roman moaned. "I need Magi Mari's assistance...Da Vinci, can you get my laptop?"

"Romani Archaman! Do you honestly think you should be turning to an internet AI right now?!"

Arthur watched awkwardly as Roman and Da Vinci started arguing, and after a few minutes, he sighed and dematerialized. "Be safe...Master Gudako..."

 **Anyone finished watching this week's Apocrypha episode? I feel bad for Mordred and Kairi….**


	4. Chapter 4

**I honestly lost all hope for anything Fate related earlier today since I spent everything on Karna's banner…and I didn't roll him. *cries in a corner* Please come home my sun boy. Oh well, the Gudako show must go on!**

 **Guest: Sign up where you can find Zelretch…but who knows where he is. And yes, Tamamo is awesome! But Karna has full hold over my heart.**

 **Aliathe (guest): It's pretty late, but you're welcome for the update! I have major struggles finding good FGO fics outside of AO3 as well (especially ones that are NOT smut, because there's too many of those). I had to search up what flanderized means (yeah I don't go on TvTropes too often) and I guess that's a good thing? If Gudako's too fixated on getting Saint Quartz then there wouldn't be too much plot to go around with. And yes, canon Apocrypha needs plenty of changes. As for the Royal Brand Mystic Code…it's making an appearance in this chapter, just for you.**

 **ZenoZen: Ooh, I feel bad for you. Hope you managed to recover your account and good luck with your new one. Also, I don't think I ever mentioned Gudako saying she'd actually side with the Red Faction? She's doing things her way.**

 **arkzero: Good idea, I was thinking of doing that. Maybe next chapter or the chapter after that.**

 **Gabriel790: Oh, that's a great idea! I was originally thinking about Jeanne Alter or Dantes for the fun of it (I might stick them in way later) but Arthur is definitely a good idea. Poor Mordred.**

 **xirons20: Thanks! And yes, that old man AKA Zelretch. Haha.**

 **extremeninja09: Gudako's definitely a troll. She'll deny it if you ask her though and say Merlin's way worse.**

 **StormOfDiamonds: Me too! I want my SSRs.**

 **Note: Sorry if Reika's a bit OOC. Honestly, she didn't get enough development anyways, so I tried my best.**

* * *

The next day dawned bright and sunny. Gudako slept in until around noon, when she woke up and promptly began farming more EXP. To her surprise and delight, the EXP cards could be taken out of her phone, manifesting as shiny gold crystals. She immediately made Karna try one. The white-haired lancer had obeyed his Master, commenting later that the crystals were quite tasty, but extremely crunchy. Gudako decided not to try one. The apples she used to refill her AP also gave massive mana bursts, and Karna advised Gudako not to use them during combat unless he was using his Noble Phantasm.

Currently, Gudako was exploring Shigisoara again, Karna present at her side. While the current Mystic Code she was wearing didn't really fit Karna's skillset, she enjoyed the professional feel Royal Brand gave her. People were gazing at her and Karna like they were rich business employees or something like that, and Gudako was internally laughing at the effect she had on them.

After a few hours of just mapping out the city, Gudako bought some cakes for her and Karna, and they sat on a bench, quietly enjoying the peaceful scenery as the sun began setting.

Finishing the last bite of cake, Gudako turned to Karna. "Jackie's in this city, right?"

"She is," Karna agreed. "While I never had any contact with her in this war, this is the first place where she made her presence known. I believe she and her Master moved to Trifas a few days later."

"I was thinking about allying with them."

"Gudako, I know that you are well-informed of how Holy Grail Wars work, especially this one, but you are currently proposing to ally with the enemy. In this timeline, Jack will not recognize you as the mother she perceives you to be in Chaldea as well, so she is more likely to cut you down."

"Eh...you're right. Although bribing her might work. She killed her previous Master and contracted with a regular civilian, so she's not getting a lot of mana. I give her some Assassin EXP crystals and some mana apples and we should have her at least say that she won't attack us."

"Are you going to look for her now, then?"

"Hm...I don't know. She's in one of the houses, right? I'd rather not do any breaking and entering. I know I'm unethical at times, but I'm not that..." Gudako trailed off as she noticed a green-haired woman in the distance, her mouth moving. But she was alone. "Is that..." Gudako quickly scrolled through her list of Craft Essences and smirked as the faces matched up. "Karna, let's go!"

"Is that..."

"Rikudou Reika, Jackie's Master. Negotiation time, start!" Gudako ran off, leaving Karna with no choice but to follow his (most likely insane) Master.

"Which place do you think would be a better place to stay?" Rikudou Reika asked softly. To normal people, it looked like she was talking to herself, and they steered clear of her.

But Reika wasn't alone. In spiritual form, a young child replied, her childish voice ringing clear to Reika's ears. _"I dunno. Whichever's easier for us to hide out in?"_

"Is that so? I'll look around some more, then."

 _"Wait, Mother. Someone's coming and she has a Servant with her. We think she's from the Red Faction, but any Servant is an enemy to us."_

"In public? It's almost nighttime, but there's still so many people out..."

Sure enough, Reika noticed an orange-haired girl approaching them, a white-haired man behind her. "Do you think they'll attack?"

 _"I dunno...be careful, Mother."_

"It's okay, Jack. I have you to protect me, remember?"

Reika said no more as Gudako stopped in front of her. "Hello! My name's Gudako! Mind if we talk for a bit?"

Reika nodded back, subtly reaching for the gun tucked into her jacket.

Gudako raised her hands in surrender. "I don't think you'd want to draw attention to yourself in public by shooting me, don't you, Rikudou Reika? And Jack the Ripper?"

Reika's eyes widened in surprise.

"I swear not to do anything to you guys until we finish talking, okay? I know you're quite logical, Reika-san, so hear me out before you tell Jack to attack me."

"And your Servant?" Reika asked guardedly, staring at the man. Even without circuits, her instincts told her that the man was very, very dangerous.

"My Master has orders for me to not harm you."

"Fine."

Gudako led Reika to a bench, where they both sat down. "Now then...how to put it this way...no offense, but you two are probably not going to be able to get the Holy Grail. Reika-san's a civilian and therefore can't provide Jack with a lot of mana."

"Before you say any more," Reika retorted, "How do you know about me and Jack?"

"Yeah, how do you know about us and our identity? You shouldn't be able to sense us!" Jack said, materializing in front of Reika, knives in her hands. Gudako's Servant tensed slightly, his eyes sharpening.

"Would you believe me if I told you I was from the future? I know how the war's going to turn out for you two if you don't listen to me."

"Do you now?"

"Oh, I know. After all, you told me everything, Jack."

"We did?"

"The you in the future did. I'm not asking you to believe me, but I am telling the truth. To be honest, I really don't want you two to disappear from the war that quickly."

"So? What are you going to do?"

Instead of answering, Gudako tapped her phone and, to Reika's surprise, pulled out 5 golden apples as well as a pile of golden crystals. "Without mana, Jack will go on rampages at night, killing magi for their hearts, since they have a lot of mana stored in them. You'll be found out and taken down, and I don't want that happening. My proposition is this: take these items-they're rich in mana-and don't attack civilians or magi. Want to try one, Jack? They're not harmful, I swear. They taste really good."

Jack cautiously reached out with a hand and took a crystal, gazing at it curiously. Sniffing at it, she slowly took a small bite, the crystal crunching loudly in her mouth. Her eyes lit up in delight and she quickly ate another one. "These taste so good! And we can feel more mana in us!"

Reika watched Jack eat with a smile, before turning back to Gudako. "What's in it for you if you do this?"

"Honestly? I don't know. You and Jack will meet a pretty tragic end, and I don't want to repeat that. Besides, looking past her homicidal tendencies, Jackie's pretty cute. We bonded a lot when I summoned her and she told me a lot about you. She really does love you, you know?"

"She does?" Reika asked curiously.

"Yeah. She saved you from death and you saved her from disappearing from the world by contracting with her, despite your lack of mage circuits and experience."

Reika said nothing, her eyes drifting back to Jack. The young girl had a delighted grin as she quickly downed an apple. "I don't know if you really are from the future..." Reika started. "But if you're seriously helping out an enemy like us...well I guess we owe you. I suppose we can refrain from opposing you,and only you, in the war. I cannot do much as I am not a mage, but I will listen to your words."

Gudako nodded. "That's really all I wanted to hear." Checking the time, she sighed. "Lancer and I have to go. I'll give you some more crystals and apples. Use them sparingly, okay?"

Jack looked up. "Thank you, onee-chan!"

Gudako smiled and carefully reached out with her hand, a silent question in her eyes. Jack nodded slowly, and Gudako ruffled the younger girl's hair, causing the latter to giggle. "No problem, Jackie! Be careful with your mommy, okay?"

"Okay!"

Gudako shook her phone and a small pile of crystals and apples fell out. Waving to Reika and Jack, she and the man disappeared into the crowd.

Reika sighed. "That was certainly strange...don't you think, Jack?"

"That onee-chan's pretty nice though, Mother. We hope we can see her again!"

"Is that so? Let's just be careful for the next few days, then."

"Okay!"

"That didn't go too badly," Gudako sighed in relief as she and Karna walked down another street. "At least Jackie didn't attack me on sight and Reika-san was up for negotiations."

"I advise you stop telling people you're from the future," Karna said. "You are not invincible with the knowledge you have."

"I know, I know. But I really did want to change things up for Jackie. I wonder though...since I summoned you directly from Chaldea, would I be able to summon someone else? After all, all I did was toss some quartz along with your catalyst and you popped up. Another Servant would be a great asset to us."

"Think about the amount of mana you will have to provide," Karna warned. "I am no longer linked to Chaldea's system, so you are the only one giving me enough mana to exist right now. Once I battle, the requirements will tax your reserves."

Gudako puffed her cheeks out in thought. "Oh yeah...I literally didn't have to provide any mana for you guys back at Chaldea thanks to the system which was further augmented when Merlin decided to show up...but I still have around 100 golden apples, it's okay. Anyways...shouldn't Amakusa be calling now?" As if on cue, her cell rang and she picked up. "Yes, Amakusa?"

 _"Please call me Shirou for the duration of this war. I have a mission for you and Lancer. Should you decline, I cannot guarantee you safe residence in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon later."_

Gudako laughed. "Blackmailing us, are you now? Well? You want us to ambush and take down the Ruler who's currently heading towards Trifas, right? Jeanne d'Arc?"

 _"...You are more informed than I am. Yes, I wish for you to annihilate her if possible."_

"Not going to happen."

 _"You refuse?"_

"Lancer can attack her all right, but Saber of Black and his Master are going to ambush us as well. Point is, I won't be able to get the job done. Relax, we have plenty of time to take her down later and turn things in your favour."

 _"...I see. I will give you the coordinates then. Who is Saber of Black, by the way?"_

"Oh yeah, I forgot to reveal the Black Faction's Servants' identities. You'll get them soon enough. Saber of Black is Siegfried, though."

 _"Siegfried...I see. Your current orders still stand. I want you to report back to me tomorrow."_

"Sure, sure."

Amakusa gave her the coordinates, and Gudako promptly hung up afterwards. "He's so much nicer back in Chaldea," she complained. "Forget him, though. This time around, I plan on beating up Siegfried's master. Which Mystic Code would work though..." She scrolled through her list. "The standard one should be alright but you were able to outclass Siegfried and you have Kavacha and Kundala, Karna...maybe the battlesuit? I wonder if I can switch during battle since Zelretch messed with my phone." Tapping the icon, her Royal Brand mystic code shifted into her orange battlesuit. "Karna, let's go."

Karna nodded, picking up Gudako bridal style and jumping over the rooftops to the exterior of Shigisoara, where empty lands and roads greeted them.

 **Next up, we meet Sumanai *cough cough* SIEGFRIED and one fat guy. Anyways, Merry late Christmas/Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! See you all in 2018!**

 **I'll just be crying in the corner because I didn't summon Karna.**

 **Who's hyped for the last Apocrypha episode? Answer: Not me. Only because I've read the spoilers from the light novel and the entire last half of Apocrypha was poorly written.**


	5. Chapter 5

**240 quartz, 15 summon tickets, no Karna. I've given up on FGO NA. Meanwhile, I rolled Scathach in FGO JP. There goes all my luck for 2018, although Shishou was a nice present. Gudako hasn't spent her quartz on any rolls yet, but she will soon.**

 **Gabriel790: I spent around $100 on Karna, does that count as whaling? But…looks like he didn't come home to either of us. Looks like we'll have to wait for America.**

 **SleepyHydrilla: I'm terrible at writing fight scenes so the bulk of the fight is next chapter, but Gordes does get beaten up slightly in this chapter. Sorry for the delay. Oh, you poor person. You spent so much more than me and Karna didn't come home. Hopefully you can save some more by the time America rolls around.**

 **Seeker (guest): Rip your quartz. *pats on back***

 **Guest: I did that. I think I rolled my 4** **th** **Hector at midnight. Sad.**

 **Aliathe: Once again, you're welcome (for the update and the Royal Brand shoutout)! I've pretty much lost all hope for getting Karna in FGO NA even when the America banner comes out. Maybe I'll roll for Dantes or Sherlock since I'm really salty. It's okay, he's grailed to 100 in JP. My salt level isn't sky-high…yet. Poor, poor Sumanai *coughs* oops, I did it again *cough* SIEGFRIED. Sadly he doesn't speak much, thanks to Gordes. Hope your holiday went well!**

 **AnimeFan0216: You're exactly correct. Thanks for reading and glad you enjoy it so far!**

 **xirons20: Jack is cute. Her Apocrypha arc was terrible; of course Gudako would want to help her. And yeah, Karna apparently does not want to come home to Chaldea.**

 **Xiumin Snape: I didn't give up until the very end until I was left with 0 quartz and 0 summon tickets. I love RNG so much. Congratulations on getting Karna though! Yes, Arthur will be Gudako's second Servant. He'll show up next chapter. Apocrypha Mordred's going to have a heart attack when Arthur starts calling her cute. I agree, their relationship would probably be better than Mordred's relationship with Arturia. I don't think they've actually ever met in FGO canon yet, but I can imagine how they would bond.**

 **Enjoy this chapter, guys!**

* * *

On a dark country road, a single pickup truck rolled along, carrying two people: its driver and a teenaged blonde in the back of the trunk. She was dressed in a school uniform and had a suitcase next to her as she stared into the distance, contemplating her circumstances.

Jeanne d'Arc, Servant Class Ruler, was heading towards Trifas to mediate the Great Holy Grail War between the Yggdmillenias and the Mages' Association.

Her summoning circumstances were quite odd, though. Unable to manifest a physical form of her own, she had found a human host, Laeticia Delacroix, who was willing to let her possess her body. However, her skills were unchanged, so she didn't mind too much.

 _But...what is this uncertainty I feel? This Holy Grail War...is not normal._

Jeanne blinked as she felt a deep sense of danger settle on her. Reaching out with her senses, she felt a Servant a few hundred metres down the road. She quickly tapped the window in front of her. "Please go back. It's dangerous. I can walk the rest of the way."

The driver stopped the truck and stared at Jeanne. "Are you serious, young lady? I can't let a young girl like you go alone in this dark place. We're almost at Trifas, I'll drive the rest of the way."

"Please," Jeanne said firmly. "I'll be fine by myself."

"If you say so..." The driver was clearly hesitant, but he got out of the truck and helped Jeanne get her- _Laeticia's_ -suitcase out of the back. "Please be careful, miss."

"I will. Please, go back. It'll be safer for you."

"You get to a safe place as well, miss." The male got back into his truck and sped off in the direction that they had just come from.

Taking a deep breath, Jeanne picked up the suitcase's handle and began walking down the road, tensing as the Servant's signature got closer and closer...

* * *

Karna and Gudako landed near a light post on an empty country road. "It was here, right?" Gudako asked as Karna set her on her feet.

"Yes," Karna replied. "Ruler is already heading in our direction."

"Well, do your thing then," Gudako said. "I'll just hide over there until Siegfried and his Master shows up." She pointed at a random area far, far away from Karna.

"Be safe, Master."

"I will. Don't worry about me."

"Do not be afraid to use your Command Seals, then."

"Yeah, yeah." Gudako pulled out a golden apple from her phone and quickly consumed it (in reality, the apples were quite, quite small), grinning as she felt the rush of mana. "Feel free to go all out." Giving her Servant one final smile, Gudako used the switching spell on her battlesuit to switch the locations of herself and a small rock in the far distance. She had recently found out that the spell could switch other things besides Servants, and she used it to her full advantage. She ended up around 100 metres away from Karna.

Karna leaped onto the light post, waiting for Ruler to show up. Gudako snapped a few photos of him, grinning at the almost uncaring expression on Karna's face. She briefly wondered if she could get Dr. Roman to dedicate a room in Chaldea for her photos of previous singularities and Servants in general. Since her phone only held FGO and a few other mandatory apps, she had plenty of space for photos.

Soon enough, Gudako saw Jeanne walking in their direction, and shielded her eyes as Karna stood up, sending a blast of flame from his lance towards the blond Ruler. The resulting explosion blew up the road, and Gudako saw Jeanne jump back, now in her armour.

While they exchanged words, Gudako saw a limo approaching them. "There's Siegfried's Master...I suppose I should head over?" She quickly snapped some more photos of Karna and Jeanne before she quickly jogged over. Maybe she was lucky or didn't notice it earlier, but there was a rather large bush next to the road. Hiding behind the bush, she waited for the car to stop.

A man quickly got out and yelled for Saber. Siegfried materialized and his sword clashed with Karna's spear, allowing Jeanne to quickly move out of range.

Gudako snickered as she watched Gordes try to get Jeanne to fight Karna with Siegfried. Pressing the film button on her phone, she aimed her camera at Karna.

"You want to make this a two-on-one fight? Not that I mind." Karna shifted back into his battle stance. "Come then...Ruler and Saber of Black."

 _Master, I will try to stay as far away from you as possible._

 _Go ahead._

Karna leapt backwards as Siegfried lunged at him, and their clash began. Jeanne stood off to the side, explaining her neutrality in the affair to Siegfried's agitated Master.

"Whoa, cool," Gudako breathed as she continued to film them. While she had seen much more on the battlefield with her Servants back at Chaldea, she had also been busy issuing orders and making sure no one got incapacitated too quickly, hence missing out most of the battles. Some of the more protective Servants also insisted on keeping her farther away from battles to keep her safe, so she couldn't see much. This was the first time in a while that she had seen a battle between two Servants up close.

Gudako heard a shuffling in front of her, and peeked out from behind the bush to see Siegfried's Master start yelling. "Come out, Lancer of Red's Master! I know you're out there! Come out and let us battle as befitting our status as proud magi!"

Gudako sighed. "Feeling useless, aren't you." However, she _did_ want some action of her own. Standing up, she called out. "I'm right behind you, so you can stop yelling."

The pudgy blond man started and turned around, meeting Gudako's eyes. They widened in shock. " _You're_ Lancer of Red's Master? You're just a girl!"

Ruler turned to observe their exchange, saying nothing as Gudako replied.

"Would these prove that I'm a Master at least?" Gudako asked as she held up her hand, displaying her Command Seals.

The man sputtered. "You are a dishonourable person then, girl! Sending your Servant to attack the mediator of this war!"

"You should have anticipated my actions if you came here with Siegfried, then, Gordes Musik Yggdmillenia." Grinning at Gordes' shocked face, Gudako continued. "Disregarding my age, I believe you wanted an fight with another magus?"

"You-how much do you know about us?!"

"Let's just say I'm well-informed about the Black Faction." _Actually, I know a lot about you guys. Vlad and Astolfo told me a lot._ "Prepare yourself."

In truth, Gudako would probably never match up to Gordes in terms of magical potential. She was a second-generation mage with very low potential, her only specialty being her high compatibility to Rayshift. However, after summoning multiple Servants and battling with them, she had sought out the friendlier ones and asked for their help to train her. The Casters mainly helped her with magecraft, while others gave her training in hand-to-hand combat and some instruction with a few weapons. No one really questioned her ambitions to grow stronger, and many of the Servants encouraged it, although they insisted on keeping her guarded in the battlefields.

Medea, her younger counterpart, and Lord El-Melloi II were the main ones to aid in her magecraft training. Since she had no elemental affinities or Sorcery Traits, they taught her advanced versions of spells she knew already. Emiya dropped in occasionally to help her hone her skills at projection and reinforcement (basic skills come in handy later, he said), and sometimes even Ishtar popped in a few of Gudako's training sessions to give her a few tips and gems, all knowledge from Tohsaka Rin's memories. Whether Emiya had asked her to or whether the goddess had decided to be kind to her Master, Gudako didn't know, but thanked her regardless.

Medea had also taught Gudako a useful spell that modern humans could use to store things in alternate spaces. While Gudako didn't really use it actively, it was nice to use as a secret weapon...but for what, she told no one. Ko-Gil knew since he had seen her use it, but the young king simply laughed and told her not to tell any of his older counterparts.

Amakusa was the one who taught Gudako how to actually use Black Keys. Usually when a summoning spree went wrong, Gudako would march over to Amakusa's room with a disgruntled look on her face and fling them all at his head. After the fifth incident, Amakusa finally told Gudako that she should learn to use Black Keys instead of just tossing them at him, and proceeded to teach her how. She still gave the majority of them to him, though, and stored the rest in her alternate space.

Strangely, Kiritsugu always gave her apprehensive looks whenever he saw her tossing around Black Keys during their combat lessons, but he quickly changed the subject whenever she asked.

Drawing 6 Black Keys with glowing green auras, Gudako reinforced her body and lunged at Gordes.

Gordes only had enough time to shout a one-count aria, reinforcing his arms so that Gudako's blades shattered upon contact. Gudako tched and jumped back. "Alchemist...transmuting your own body. I'll make up for my lack of magical potential with bigger guns, then!" She summoned 6 blue Black Keys, her eyes keeping careful watch on Gordes' actions.

Lord El-Melloi II's voice echoed through her head. _Never take your eyes off your opponent. One look away and it can be fatal._

Gordes, however, didn't attack, staring at Gudako in shock. "You can't be one of the Church's exorcists, so how are you wielding Black Keys?!"

"Now why would I tell you anything?" Gudako asked honestly. "I make up for my low magical potential as a second-generation mage with weapons. You're a first-class mage, aren't you? We are enemy Masters in the war, our Servants are fighting, and Ruler is watching us right now. Didn't you want a fight?"

Gordes' expression filled with even more shock and hints of admiration. "Only a second-generation magus and you summoned a powerful Servant...I will fight you seriously, then."

"Come at me then!"

* * *

Darnic Prestone Yggdmillenia observed the fight between Gordes and the mysterious orange-haired girl on a screen in the Millennium Castle, courtesy of one of Caster's golems who had been brought along with Gordes. She was very surprising.

"A second-generation magus who summoned one of the world's most powerful heroes...she does not wear the clothing of the church but she wields their weapons...interesting."

"She appears to know a lot about us," Lancer of Black, also known as Vlad III, said as he sipped on a goblet of fine red wine. "Darnic, what will you do with her? She may jeopardize your plans. Even from here, I can sense great potential in her."

"I will observe her for now, my liege," Darnic replied. "She has not shown her full skillset yet, and if she cannot hold her own against Gordes while providing mana for her Servant, then we have completely overestimated her and she would not be of any danger to us."

Lancer watched silently as the girl flung three red Black Keys at Gordes, two shattering against his reinforced arms but the third managing to pierce his hardened flesh. The blond shouted in pain, and countered with a spell that caused the ground to rise up and attempt to trap the girl, who reinforced her legs and backflipped out of the way, flinging 3 more Black Keys at her opponent. "How fares Saber?"

Darnic motioned with his hand, and the scene changed to the image of two Servants battling with their all. "Lancer of Red is matching Saber blow for blow. Unsurprising, considering Karna is a demigod and has a divine spear."

"It will be interesting to cross blades with him in the near future," Lancer stated, taking another sip of his wine. "Have them retreat when dawn comes. If Karna truly is descended from the sun, I do not think Saber will be able to defeat him then."

"Yes, my liege."

* * *

 _EXTRA-Black Key Hell: a few months before the current events_

Gudako's frustrated scream could be heard throughout Chaldea.

In the summoning chamber, Tesla and Edison had stopped arguing for once, instead laughing together at the pile of conceptual weapons that had appeared in the middle of the summoning circle. Realizing what they had done mere seconds later, they resumed their catfight. With Helena nowhere to be seen, no one stopped them.

Gudako was busy raging.

"10 SUMMONS AND ALL BLACK KEYS?! THIS IS INSANITY, I TELL YOU!" She turned to Tesla and Edison, eyes blazing. "TESLA! EDISON! STOP FIGHTING AND FIND A WAY TO CHANGE THE RATIOS OR WHATEVER! AMAKUSA SHIROU TOKISADA! GET OVER HERE THIS INSTANT!"

"Senpai..." Mashu called gently, but Gudako was beyond comfort at this point.

"THIS IS EVEN WORSE THAN THE MOBILE GAME! AT LEAST SOMETHING THAT WASN'T A BLACK KEY WAS GUARANTEED WITH EVERY MULTI SUMMON!"

Unfortunately, Amakusa chose that time to pop his head into the summoning chamber. "Master Gudako, did you call me-" He was rewarded with Gudako picking up a Black Key and hurling it at his head. He tilted his head to the side and saw the pile of Black Keys on the ground. "My, my, a whole pile of them this time? Shall I take them off your hands?"

Gudako had an angry glare on her face. "Did you steal Gilles' spellbook or something and curse the summoning circle? You're the only one who uses Black Keys!"

"I assure you, I did nothing of the sort," Amakusa raised his hands in a placating manner. "I still haven't gone through the 5 buckets of Black Keys you gave me, so why would I need more?"

Medea materialized at this moment, shaking her head. "Your luck appears to have fallen to E-rank, Gudako."

"Don't remind me," Gudako moaned. "I knew I was spending too much time around Cu and Siegfried, no offense to their E-rank luck."

Medea snapped her fingers and the Black Keys disappeared.

Gudako stared at the elfin beauty. "How...?"

"A simple spell to store objects in alternate spaces," Medea explained. "I don't need an incantation, but you do, and I can teach it to you. With this spell, you can store your extra Black Keys and any other things you don't need, and..." Making a gesture, a portal opened up behind her and fired a Black Key at Amakusa, who dodged it again with a sigh. "Fire them as weapons. The least you can do is use them against enemies."

Gudako had a strangely blank expression on her face. "You're right..." She said dreamily. "Just like how Gilgamesh fires his weapons..."

Amakusa suddenly sensed immediate danger at the serene expression on Gudako's face. He hurriedly dematerialized.

A few days later, Gudako was testing her limits in the training area. There were separate rooms sectioned off from the general area for private training, and she was busy perfecting her Black Key firing.

Muttering the aria, Gudako thrust her hand forward and 12 portals opened behind her, firing Black Keys into the opposite, reinforced wall. They shattered, but the wall was strong and remained unmarked. She had observed a while ago that the green Black Keys flew the quickest, the blue ones were the most accurate, and the red ones were extremely powerful. Working with different combinations, she could destroy weaker enemies and get rid of the things she hated the most at the same time.

Before she could fire again, a child's disembodied voice was heard. "Heh, so that's what you're working on, Master?"

Gudako stopped and smiled at the child Servant, who materialized in a burst of golden sparks. "Hello there, Gilgamesh."

Ko-Gil giggled slightly. "Copying me, aren't you? I don't care what my older counterparts say, I approve. Although your spell will never compare to the Gate of Babylon, it is sufficient for you. I suppose this is a secret from the majority of Chaldea, then?"

Gudako nodded. A thought then struck her mind. "I shouldn't tell your older counterparts about this, should I?"

Ko-Gil scratched his head, and then shook it. "Don't. They're annoyed enough with the faker copying our treasures. Caster might be more amused, but Archer will probably be very angered."

"Then I'll have to give it a name, then, to differentiate," Gudako mused. "I know...how about Black Key Hell?"

Ko-Gil grinned. "Good idea, Master."

Gudako let another barrage fly into the wall. "If I ever reach the Throne of Heroes, this is definitely going to be one of my Noble Phantasms. Sad."

"Black Key Hell...an almost-infinite stream of Black Keys. You're getting more interesting by the day, Master."

"I'll take that as a compliment, thank you."

* * *

 **Black Key Hell is Gudako's NP in revdb's** ** _Insane Gudako_** **. I just gave it a backstory. And yes, Gudako is spamming Black Keys everywhere. Since she was supposed to be a regular citizen with no magical potential at all, I just changed her story a bit. Also, in all honesty (yorokobe shounen jokes aside), Black Keys are really effective weapons in the Fate universe. Sure, Gudako hates them, but destroying them in attacks against the enemy help release some of her frustration against them.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I know where my luck on FGO NA went; it went to my JP account. Considering I'm F2P in JP, 3 SSRs (Scathach, Meltlilith and Jalter) in the first 2 weeks of January was awesome. By the way, thanks for all the follows, favourites, and reviews! I totally did not expect over 100 followers. You guys are awesome, please continue reading this crazy story!**

 **Amatsumi: You pretty much summed up my initial thoughts on this chapter. Hope this fight satisfies you, however short it is. I already said I'm terrible with long fighting scenes.**

 **Gabriel790: Arthur's here! At the end of the chapter.**

 **xirons20: Aww, thanks! As for your first sentence, were you referring to Gudako and her Black Keys or Amakusa getting the Keys thrown at him? Anyway, I feel bad for both.**

 **extremeninja09: FGO is a great game. Don't get me wrong, Black Keys are a decent craft essence for people with bad luck, but if you summon too many in the gacha you've probably been cursed by Kirei. Luckily in JP they took out the Black Keys in the gacha summon and only put them in the friend point summoning. NA sadly does not have this update yet, so Kirei still has many players to curse.**

 **Aliathe: I'd totally buy them. Thanks for reviewing, as always! :D**

 **miguelgiuliano-co: Uh…gracias? I'm sorry, I don't speak Spanish. I translated your comment though, thanks! Apocrypha!Mordred would definitely be confused, but Chaldea!Mordred would probably just glare at Emiya and tell him to pick someone. I think? I don't particularly support EmiyaXArturia (sorry to people out there). (I google-translated this into Spanish, sorry for any bad translations: Lo siento, no hablo español.** **Sin embargo, traduje tu comentario, ¡gracias! ¡Apocrypha! Mordred definitivamente estaría confundido, ¡pero Chaldea! Mordred probablemente solo miraría a Emiya y le diría que escogiera a alguien.** **¿Creo? No apoyo particularmente a EmiyaXArturia (lo siento para la gente).)**

 **Thaiboy: Please…give me some of that luck in NA.**

 **Alewar Warinot (guest): I envy you, but I'm not going to brood over it. I'm not sure which Servant you're referring to. If it's MHX, I think any Quick card effectiveness CE or 2030 would work for extra stars? I'm not too good with this stuff. Bond CEs can only be equipped to the Servant in name. NA will release better CEs soon, so you'll eventually find a good match for your Servants. Go watch Apocrypha! The plot was kinda meh and the animation was sketchy in some areas, but overall it wasn't too bad.**

 **JackFrost14: Thank you! :)**

 **Guest: UMU ftw? It's okay, MHX should have one more banner.**

 **Xiumin Snape: I'm out of quartz, I'm bad at saving, and I'm completely giving up on getting Karna. I'm going to save for Ozymandias or Merlin. Ah, Riyo Gudako's crazy protagonist. I should reread it, I don't recall the part where she was only in panties? BUT SERIOUSLY RIYO!GUDAKO WITH A BLACK KEY HELL NP WOULD BE SO FUNNY**

 **savingSQs4Jalter (guest): Looking at your name, I hope you do roll her! And same, Black Keys outside of FGO are really cool. Hey, at least you got Karna. Now save these quartz for Jalter and don't spend them anywhere else.**

 **On to the story: I think I'll move reviews to after the chapter so people won't have to scroll past all these answers.**

The fight was going on longer than Gudako would have liked.

She could feel herself tiring: Karna and Siegfried were still battling, and it took her all just to avoid the spells Gordes had thrown at her. She was running out of mana, and Gordes' unrelenting spells ensured that she wouldn't have time to consume another apple or switch mystic codes. _I have to end this soon...no way am I dying!_

She mentally scolded herself as she dodged out of the way of another blast. _You're up against a skilled magus who's probably had his fair share of mage fights. He can probably anticipate your attacks. Meanwhile, you have zero experience fighting mages. Gudako, you're an idiot._

Her one moment of distraction was a mistake. Gordes shouted an aria, and spears of earth shot up from the ground, circling around her before closing in. Gudako reinforced her body and smashed her way through a few with red Black Keys and rolled out of the way of a few others, but some pierced through her battlesuit and lodged there.

To her credit, Gudako didn't cry out, only wincing and ripping out the spears. It was a bad idea, as the wounds began bleeding badly. Cursing for not remembering any healing spells on hand, she jumped back, stumbling a bit as her leg had a nasty wound in it. "Not bad for a first-rate magus."

"I could say the same to you, girl," Gordes huffed. "And you say you're an amateur." He was bleeding from multiple cuts and scratches from Gudako's Black Keys, obviously tiring as well. However, he had managed to heal most of his major injuries and looked like he could still go on for a few more rounds.

Gudako looked out of the corner of her eye and smiled as she saw the faint glow of the sun light up the horizon. _Just a little bit more..._ She reinforced her body once again, calling out to Karna. _How are you doing?_

 _You should worry over yourself first, Master Gudako._

Indeed, Karna and Siegfried had been tirelessly exchanging blows, razing most of the land but making sure to stay away from their Masters.

"No use...guess I'll use my ace for this." Gudako winced as her muscles protested when she raised her arm, her lips forming the familiar aria she had learned months ago. "Black Key Hell-activate!"

Gordes braced himself, but his jaw fell slack as multiple portals (around 20 in number, the most Gudako could summon) opened up behind the Chaldean Master, who at that point did look pretty terrifying: all bloodied up and injured but with a dangerous fire burning in her eyes. "A-alternate spaces?!" He stammered out. Each portal had a blade poking out of it-Black Keys, to be precise.

Gudako thrust her hand forward, and a rain of Black Keys shot from the portals. Gordes barely had time to throw up a shield before the blessed weapons slammed into the area around him. While the onslaught was going on, Gudako swiftly took out her phone and tossed two golden apples in her mouth, as well as switching into her standard Chaldea uniform, casting an Emergency Heal on herself. The worst of her cuts closed, and she sighed in relief, ending the spell as she sensed that her Black Key supply was dwindling.

(Surprisingly, she didn't have as many Black Keys as she thought she had. Maybe, just _maybe_ , she'd have to ask for some of Amakusa's later.)

(In reality, she still had a few hundred left. She just didn't want to admit it.)

On the ground, a weak shield flickered out, and Gordes lay on the ground, unconscious. He had protected most of his body from the bombardment, but Black Keys were lodged into his arms and legs.

"Haa..." Gudako let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and fell to her knees, utterly exhausted. Jeanne ran over to her, a concerned look on her face.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Ruler," Gudako said with a pained smile. "I'll retreat for now."

Karna and Siegfried had stopped their battle once they saw their Masters fall and had rushed to their sides. Siegfried watched on with a concerned look as the 2 homunculi carried Gordes into the car that he had come in, and turned to see Karna, who was helping Gudako stand up.

Gudako waved to Siegfried. "Sorry about taking your Master out. I'm guessing you and Karna want a rematch later when we're not interfering?"

"Master, you should really prioritize your own well-being over our desires first," Karna said reproachfully as he lifted Gudako into his arms. Turning to Siegfried, he spoke. "We will meet again, Saber of Black."

"I look forward to it, Lancer of Red," Siegfried replied, dematerializing. The car containing Gordes drove off.

"Anyways, Ruler, no, Jeanne d'Arc," Gudako said seriously. "We were under orders to attack you tonight. Stay on your guard." _Karna, Mordred and her Master are hiding out in the largest Trifas graveyard. Take me to them._

 _Understood._

With Gudako in his arms, Karna disappeared into the distance, leaving Jeanne alone to think about the words Gudako had told her.

* * *

 _Master Gudako, are you sure you are alright?_ Karna asked as he landed in an empty part of the graveyard. _Your injuries look quite severe._

 _I'm fine,_ Gudako said, wincing as pain flared up in her right arm. _Luckily Raikou or Boudica aren't here or else they'd be fussing over me like there's no tomorrow. Nightingale would probably freak out. Well, for my first fight with a highly experienced mage, it didn't go too badly. He should be out of the fight for a while._

 _Are you really sure you can confront Mordred and her Master in this state?_

 _Hm, no. But they should at least listen to us since we're on the same side. I'll just heal myself later. The boundary to Shishigo Kairi's bounded field is just up ahead. Go and trip it; I know it's just a warning signal._

Karna sincerely wished his Master would stop running head-first into potentially dangerous situations.

His wish would not be granted.

* * *

"It's so boring here," Mordred whined as she watched Kairi work on a new bone tool.

"We'll go out tonight if that makes you happy," Kairi said gruffly. He hadn't expected Mordred, the Knight of Treachery, to act so childish when she was bored.

A wave of mana rolled over the place, and Kairi tensed. "Someone's tripped the bounded field."

Mordred sat up, her face now serious. "Who is it?"

Kairi activated his circuits and looked through the eyes of one of his familiars outside. "A Servant...and his injured Master. This is strange. Saber, go check it out. Do not engage them in battle."

"Fine," Mordred sighed as she stood up, summoning Clarent into her hand. "This better be interesting," she muttered.

* * *

"Saber is coming," Karna said.

"Good, just who I wanted to see," Gudako said. She shifted and accidentally banged her injured shoulder on Karna's armour. "Ow ow ow!"

"You two are either suicidal or have a plan up your sleeves if you deliberately tripped the bounded field," a familiar voice spoke. Mordred materialized, a bored look on her face. "Who're you two?"

"Lancer of Red and his Master. You're Saber of Red, right? I just want to talk to your Master. I'm not with Priest Kotomine, I swear."

Mordred tilted her head, communicating with her Master. After a few minutes, she lowered her sword. "We're only letting you in since you said you're not with that priest. Follow me."

Exchanging glances with Karna, Gudako motioned for Karna to follow the Saber deeper into the graveyard.

* * *

"Master, we're back," Mordred called as she entered the small antechamber she and Kairi stayed in.

Kairi looked up and saw a white-haired Servant carrying an injured orange-haired girl in his arms. "Lancer of Red and his Master. How did you even know we were here?"

"I know a lot of things, Shishigo-san," Gudako said. "I came here just to talk."

Kairi appraised Gudako with a sharp glance. "Where did you get all these injuries?"

"Ran into Saber of Black and his Master. I incapacitated the latter, but I got some nasty injuries. Do you know any healing spells? I don't. I can give you some information in exchange for your help."

"Hm...fine. Lancer, can you set her down on that mat over there?"

Karna complied, and Kairi moved over to Gudako's side and examined her cuts. "These look like spear wounds."

"I got stabbed by a few of them-ow!" Gudako yelped as Kairi gingerly poked at her lower leg, which had a barely-closed stab wound.

"You say you don't know any healing spells, but some of them have healed. Only a bit, though." Kairi muttered an aria, and Gudako's flesh slowly started knitting itself back together.

"My uniform is a mystic code that can cast 3 spells. One of them is an emergency heal usually meant for a Servant, but they can be cast on the user if needed. But usually I'd need some more healing done before I'm completely fine."

"Interesting..." was the only thing Kairi said before he moved on to a deeper cut on Gudako's arm, having completely healed the injuries on Gudako's lower body.

"So? What information can you give us?" Mordred asked.

"Saber of Black's identity is Siegfried, for starters. I also know the identities of all the other Servants in this war. It's kind of a long story, but I know you two are trustworthy enough."

"You can start with it, then. I'm done over here. You might need a bit of rest to make sure you're completely fine, but I've stopped all the bleeding and repaired your blood vessels." Kairi moved away from Gudako and resumed his position near the fire.

Gudako slowly lifted an arm, surprise as she realized there was no more pain. "Wow, you're good. Thanks. I'll tell you my story, then. Karna, make sure Mordred doesn't attack me, okay?"

Kairi's mouth dropped at the casual reveal. Meanwhile, Mordred leveled a scathing glare at Gudako, a dangerous aura rising off her. "How do you know my True Name?!"

Karna moved in between Mordred and Gudako, spear ready, but Gudako waved him down. "The same way I know the other Servants' True Names and the way this war is going to turn out...because I'm from the future."

* * *

"So you're essentially saying in the future, humanity is going to be wiped out and you've been tasked with fixing incidents in the past that never happened to reset the timeline?" Kairi asked in disbelief.

"Basically, yeah. The entire scheme's by the Grand Caster Solomon. With seven Holy Grails, he gave them to a Servant or a human of the past and let them wreak havoc with their wish. The results of that wish usually mess up the past we know of and as a result, also incinerates our future. I travel to the past with a bunch of Servants, find the reason why the past is messed up, and destroy it, recovering the Holy Grail and taking it back to Chaldea. We've defeated seven singularities so far, and the final one is supposed to be our last battle with Solomon-if we can find him, of course."

"That doesn't explain how you know my identity, though," Mordred said.

"I'm getting there," Gudako said. "With each singularity, I met various Servants and obtained suitable catalysts to summon them in Chaldea. Chaldea's system allows me to summon multiple Servants, and sustain them without my own mana. I don't understand how it works, but there's around 100 Servants in Chaldea right now. You included, Mordred."

"100?!" Kairi gaped.

"Mhm. I know all of them by name and appearance, considering I summoned them myself. Mordred's a case where I met her in a singularity, though. You helped me out greatly in 1800s London, so thanks for that." Gudako grinned at Mordred.

"You're...welcome?" Mordred sounded confused, but Gudako laughed.

"Sorry, sorry, I forgot that you're not the Mordred that I know. Karna's the same case. I summoned him after the American singularity, where I encountered him and bunch of others."

Karna simply nodded.

"So, who have you summoned so far?" Kairi asked, interested.

"There's a lot...we'll be stuck here all day if I tell you. However, I will tell you that there are cases of Servants with the same identity, although under different classes or even at different ages. An example's Gilgamesh. His main class is his adult Archer form, but there's also Caster Gilgamesh and a child Archer version. Cu Chulainn's another example. He has two Lancer forms, one Caster, and one Berserker."

"That's...insane. How do you even tell them apart?"

"They _look_ different, of course. They also act really different. If I have to talk to them, I usually call out to them telepathically."

"Hey, Gudako...is my father in Chaldea?" Mordred asked.

Gudako tilted her head. "Which one?"

Mordred gaped. "What do you mean, 'which one'?!"

"Uh...your father is Arthur Pendragon, who has 3 Saber identities, 2 Lancer identities, 1 Assassin identity, and 1 Berserker identity. There's also a Saber identity that said he came from a completely different world."

It was Mordred's turn to fall slack-jawed, although Kairi copied her actions.

"Actually, to clarify, besides the one Saber-class, they're all different versions of the father you know, Arturia Pendragon. And then there's the male King Arthur who came from a completely different timeline."

"Wait, wait, wait," Kairi interrupted. "Arthur Pendragon was a female?"

"Technically a pseudo-male thanks to Merlin's magic, but she is female. The male _Arthur_ Pendragon I'm talking about isn't Mordred's father. _Arturia_ Pendragon, on the other hand, is Mordred's real father."

"You know what, I'm getting confused by all this," Kairi groaned. "Can you just tell me about this war since Saber's all shell-shocked over there?"

"Sure. Priest Kotomine's real identity is the Ruler-class Servant, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada. He wants the Grail for his wish to save humanity. Which, by the way, is a bad idea, so I'm stopping him."

"Wha-how?!"

"The Einzberns screwed the rules and summoned him in the Third Holy Grail War. He survived and decided to carry out his plans in this war. He's pretty nice in Chaldea, but right now, he's still a jerk. I'm currently letting him think I'll stay on his side, but when the time's right, I'm either going to defect to the Black Faction or become a third party."

"..."

"Wanna join me? You guys can have the Grail once we take down everyone. I don't want it."

"This...is a lot to take in..." Kairi finally said. "I can tell that you're telling the truth, though. I'll have to think about this."

"Sure," Gudako said. "Mordred told me back in Chaldea that you were a really great person and Master overall, so I know you'll make the right decision."

"Wait, she remembers me? Even though you summoned a different version?"

"The Servants I've summoned have memories of previous Grail Wars. Karna was the original Lancer of Red in this war so he knows what happens, and I summoned him here straight from Chaldea so he's the one I originally summoned and bonded with. Makes things easier, you know?"

"I see..."

"Anyways, I have another favour to ask for you. Can you create a Servant summoning circle?

"...you're going to summon another Servant?"

"Master, please reconsider. We've already had this conversation," Karna said firmly, speaking up for the first time in a while. "You will not be able to provide enough mana for two Servants since we are no longer tied to Chaldea."

"And I said I'd be fine. This is also for Mordred's benefit as well, you know."

"Huh?" Mordred had finally snapped out of her shock. "Are you summoning Father?"

"Yes and no," Gudako said with a mysterious smile. "Can you do it?" She asked Kairi.

"Sure. Give me some time, though."

* * *

"Master, you do not even have a catalyst," Karna reminded Gudako as they stood in front of the summoning circle. "With you summoning directly from Chaldea, you might end up with more Black Keys."

"Please don't remind me about my Black Key summoning hell," Gudako groaned. "These should work as a catalyst, right?" She pulled two Craft Essences out of her phone. "One conceptualized piece of Excalibur and a nice photo of Arthur with Paracelsus and Ozymandias. Luckily I have multiples of both so losing those won't do any harm. Excalibur's concept will guarantee Arthur's arrival."

"So you're really going to summon King Arthur," Kairi commented.

"Mhm. He's on really good terms with Mordred back in Chaldea, plus I kinda want to Excaliblast some enemies here while I'm at it."

"A male Father..." Mordred muttered. She still appeared to be quite shocked.

Gudako placed the two cards into the middle of the circle and pulled out 3 Saint Quartz from her phone. "That reminds me, I should do a few summons later." Activating her circuits, she sent a burst of mana into the circle, and it glowed, rainbow orbs spinning around and finally converging into a blast of bright light.

When the light died down, a handsome blond male clad in armour stood in the circle, a confused look on his face. Looking around, his eyes settled on Gudako and Karna. The former grinned at him, and his confusion melted into relief. "Master Gudako! Karna!"

"Hi there, Arthur! Glad to see you're fine."

"Where are we..." Arthur trailed off as he saw Mordred gaping at him, and a grin spread across his face. "Mordred! So this is the war you were in...you're cute as always."

Mordred's face turned redder than a tomato as she spluttered incoherently, and Gudako could have sworn she saw steam come out of the embarrassed Saber's ears.

"Well, that's a first..." Kairi muttered.

* * *

 _A few minutes earlier in Chaldea_

"I hope Master returns safely," Arthur commented. He was talking with his female Saber counterpart, Arturia Pendragon. "I don't know how much longer we can restrain the more troublesome Servants."

"I'm ashamed to say my altered counterparts may cause some trouble," Arturia said with a frown. "I saw Saber and Lancer conversing with Berserker earlier-they might be planning something."

"It's hard when there's so many different versions of you," Arthur said sympathetically. "I know I'm one of them, but I believe I'm the easiest to tell apart."

Arturia laughed slightly. "We are both versions of the concept of 'Arthur Pendragon, but our genders make it easier to differentiate. I suppose that;s why we agreed on the earlier proposal, _brother_."

"I could say the same, _sister_."

The two shared a laugh before Arturia developed a pensive look on her face. "Have you seen Mordred around, by the way? I don't want the Alters harassing her while Master is gone."

"Look at you, finally concerned for your cute daughter. I think she's with Jekyll, though. The last time I saw them I believe they were playing with the children."

"You make a better parent to her even though you've declared yourself as her uncle. It's all thanks to you and Master that we finally settled our differences though."

"Now if only she'd get along with Lancelot and the others, it would be perfect," Arthur said.

The two were walking down one of the corridors in Chaldea. Up ahead, they could hear voices, and stretching out their senses, they could tell that it was Gilgamesh's Caster form conversing with Enkidu.

"..."

Noticing the slight frown on Arturia's face, Arthur spoke up. "You don't wish to encounter Gilgamesh and Enkidu?"

"Caster is easier to deal with as he is not obsessed with me, but he is still the same person..." Arturia trailed off.

"Well, you could always-" Arthur cut himself off as a summoning circle suddenly formed under him, and he felt his body forcibly dematerialize.

"Arthur?!" Arturia cried out in shock.

Gilgamesh and Enkidu heard Arturia's shout and came running, only to stare in disbelief as Arthur's body disappeared along with the summoning circle.

"...I believe he disappeared the same way as Karna," Enkidu observed calmly, but there was a hidden shock to his tone.

"So Gudako has summoned him to her side?" Gilgamesh asked. "She must be having trouble if she's calling for more of us." Not many Servants knew about the true situation with Gudako, but Caster Gilgamesh was among the few who knew she was in another timeline.

"...I believe I will go explain the situation to Dr. Roman and Da Vinci then," Arturia sighed.

 **More Servant cameos and Arthur's finally in the picture! Honestly, similarities to GhostXavier's Fragments of Chaldea story aside (I will acknowledge that I used the idea of Arturia and Arthur acting as siblings from his story, but truthfully, that idea could have existed long before he wrote FoC), Arturia and Arthur would make good siblings. Hm…start of a new AU then? Haha. Please review!**

 **EDIT: Also, a few more notes. If anyone's counted the number of Arturia faces we have in FGO and realize I may have miscounted: this is my opinion on the matter. There's Arturia Pendragon (AKA the Fate Arturia), Lily, and Saber Alter (lovingly dubbed Salter by most of the FGO community). That's our 3 Sabers. Our two Lancers are Lancer Alter and the not-Lion King older Lancer version. Assassin is obviously MHX while Berserker is MHX Alter. Santa Rider Alter and maid!Rider Alter are simply different outfits and classes Salter forced herself under. The description of Santa Alter in FGO goes that Salter decided to become Santa Alter, so there's my point for a simple outfit change, and I'm not going to address the class change because this story revolves around Gudako and not the Saberfaces.**

 **The picture of Arthur Gudako uses as a catalyst is an actual Craft Essence in FGO JP, titled "Cafe Camelot", featuring Arthur, Paracelsus and Ozymandias. It looks really cool, go check it out!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the late update; I had midterms. We will now return to the regular weekly update of** _ **Gudako and the Great Holy Grail War**_ **! Like I said in the previous chapter, answers to reviews are now after the chapter. Enjoy! Once again, thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favourites! You guys really make my day!**

Darnic Prestone Yggdmillenia's lips were pressed in a thin line as he reviewed the recorded scenes of Gordes' battle with the mysterious orange-haired mage. She had considerable physical prowess. Her magical ability appeared to be nothing important until she had cast a spell that opened alternate spaces revealing more Black Keys. Gordes had been badly injured after that spell and had only just recovered thanks to extensive healing magecraft.

"She makes for a formidable opponent at her age," he mused out loud.

"What do you think we should do about her, Uncle Darnic?" Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillenia asked. Along with the other Yggdmillenia Masters (minus Gordes and Roche), they and their Servants were also with him.

"Saber, have the homunculi bring Gordes in for his side of the story," Darnic ordered.

Siegfried acknowledged Darnic's order with a silent nod, exiting the room.

"Fiore, have you received any information on her from your acquaintances at the Clock Tower?"

Fiore nodded. "She is apparently replacing Feend vor Sembren and was personally recommended by Wizard Marshall Zelretch himself. He claimed her as one of his apprentices."

Darnic gritted his teeth. That damned vampire just _had_ to interfere in his war. "We should upgrade her threat level. She's undoubtedly more dangerous than she has shown herself."

"What about the massive pulse of mana that was felt in Trifas only a few hours ago?" Vlad inquired. "A Servant or something else with the same level of mana was summoned."

At the mention of that incident, all the Masters and Servants tensed. It was unheard of to summon another Servant when all 15 had already been registered. Something with the potential power of a Servant that was summoned after the Holy Grail War had already begun was _very_ bad news.

"A rogue Servant and a rogue Master...the Grail would not allow it," Darnic said. "The Greater Grail would have prevented something like this from happening."

"If that girl truly is Zelretch's apprentice, there is a chance she summoned another Servant," Caules Forvedge Yggdmillenia ventured.

"Idiot!" Celenike Icecolle Yggdmillenia snapped, causing Caules to flinch. "No human would have enough mana to sustain two Servants even if they used a method like we do! It's also impossible for a contracted Master to summon another Servant!"

"Celenike, Caules may be correct. We hardly know anything about the girl, so her humanity should be questioned. However, your statement on contracted Masters and Servants is true."

"Pardon the intrusion, Lord Darnic, but Master Gordes is here," a female homunculus stated as she entered the room. Behind her followed a bandaged-up Gordes and an ever-silent Siegfried.

"Gordes. I want your report on the girl."

Gordes remained silent for a few minutes before speaking. "She is skilled," he said finally. "Even as her enemy, I am forced to respect her prowess in battle. She admitted that she was inexperienced as a mage, but her raw talent and weapons make up for that. Her seemingly limitless number of Black Keys and her skill at wielding them would have made her out to be an Executor, but no Executor would use Black Keys in such an unorthodox way. Not to mention her casting of spatial manipulation...it is impossible without a ten-count aria if you don't possess the Sorcery Trait Imaginary Numbers. Even with it, you'd at least need a few seconds of casting. She did it instantaneously-and multiple spaces while she was at it. We cannot take her lightly. Her Servant is also beyond dangerous in terms of skill and legend. I suggest targeting her first before any other Red Servants. I know I left her injured and low on mana-she shouldn't be too hard to pick off now."

"We will have to see about that."

Just then, Roche opened the door and poked his head in. "We've got a report from one of the golem familiars," he called.

Darnic nodded at the young Master. "What is it?"

"An orange-haired girl matching the descriptions Uncle Gordes gave has been seen on the streets of Trifas with some guy who's probably her Servant. We've actually been tracking her since earlier this morning since we knew she was a mage, and she first stopped at one of the graveyards. I would have told you, but someone set up a Bounded Field there and the golem couldn't get in. She just reappeared."

"A graveyard with a bounded field...?"

"One of the Masters of the Red Faction is Kairi Shishigo, a mercenary and necromancer," Fiore reminded Darnic.

"So she knew he'd be there...without a doubt, she's probably recovered and is back at full health."

Gordes grimaced. If only he had time to cast one more spell. He probably would have been able to take down the girl along with her Servant.

"Master Gordes, you should not blame yourself too much for this failure," Chiron spoke up for the first time. "None of us had any idea about the girl's skills."

"Chiron is correct," Darnic said coolly. "You have seen her skills first-hand, Gordes. I expect you to defeat her next time."

"Yes, Lord Darnic," Gordes muttered. Chiron's words were meant to be reassuring, but Darnic had turned them into a hidden threat.

 _Failure is not an option._

"As for now...Roche, continue to observe the girl. Tell Caster to also modify some of the homunculi to improve their battle prowess. We have to neutralize this girl before the later stages of the war lest she threaten us all. The rest of you, I want you on standby."

"Standby for what, though? There's some action already going on," Roche said with a curious look. "Teacher didn't tell you that Berserker of Red is currently rampaging through the forest towards the castle?"

"...what?"

"I'd give anything to see Mordred's expression again," Gudako crowed with delight as she walked down the streets of Trifas with Karna. "The way she reacted to Arthur was so funny!"

Karna nodded silently, but the beginnings of an amused smile was tugging at the corner of his lip.

 _"F-father?!" Mordred stuttered._

 _Arthur gave her a cheerful grin and stepped closer before she could react. He ruffled her hair and then hugged her, seemingly ignoring her embarrassed protests. "Glad to see you're doing alright, Mordred."_

 _Mordred only stuttered further, seemingly unable to form a single word._

 _Arthur let go of her and turned to Gudako. "I'm guessing she's not the one who's constantly bugging me and calling me Uncle Arthur?"_

 _"Sadly, no. You can still bond with her, though."_

 _"Pity...well, Mordred is Mordred. Anyways," Arthur turned back to Mordred. "Have you been eating well? Did you tie your hair up properly? And for the love of God, why are you wearing these revealing outfits?"_

 _Mordred only turned redder. "S-shut up, Father! I choose what I want to wear!"_

 _"There's full-on tsundere Mordred mode and full-on fussy mother-hen Arthur mode," Gudako stage-whispered to Kairi._

 _"..."_

 _It appeared that Kairi was shocked into silence._

 _Arthur continued to fuss over Mordred, who could only stutter out responses that didn't sound threatening (even though she probably intended for them to be) and blush harder._

 _Gudako coughed loudly, causing Arthur to pull away from Mordred. "Mordred, I understand you're probably overwhelmed, but you should talk with Arthur and understand his point of view. Arthur, for the time being, I want you to stay with Kairi and Mordred. Summoning you definitely alerted everyone else to another Servant in this war, and I'd like to keep you out of the picture for now."_

 _"I see, understood," Arthur said, his voice now calm. "And what will you do, Master Gudako? Chaldea is in a panic over your disappearance."_

 _Gudako laughed sheepishly. "I should have anticipated that...I'm going to keep the Greater Grail from destroying this world and go home with 1000 Saint Quartz."_

 _"Master..." Arthur sighed and shook his head in resignation. Gudako's obsession with Saint Quartz was not to be underestimated._

 _"Anyways, do you have a Craft Essence on you?_ "

 _Arthur shook his head._

 _"Hm..." Gudako pulled out her phone, scrolling through her list. "What should I give you...Black Grail? Nah. Limited/Zero Over? Nah. Oh, there's my Kaleidoscope!" Taking it out of her phone, she handed it over to Arthur. "One time use to blast Excalibur without taking any mana from me."_

 _Arthur hesitantly took the card when he saw the image. "That man...he spoke to us through this card and then destroyed it later."_

 _"Zelretch spoke to you guys through this card and destroyed it? I'm not going to question his methods, but did he really have to destroy a Kaleidoscope?" Gudako sighed. "It's okay, just take it."_

 _Arthur nodded his thanks as he pocketed the card. "As I am not tied to Chaldea anymore, I should go into spiritual form to minimize the the draining of your mana, Master."_

 _"Oh, it's fine." Gudako popped another golden apple into her mouth. "Go have a nice talk with Mordred. Try snapping her out of her shock while you're at it; we'll need both of you to fight. Karna, let's go explore Trifas."_

 _"As you command, Master."_

"...Was it really alright to leave Arthur with Mordred? She is not the Mordred we know in Chaldea," Karna asked.

"It's alright; Arthur knows how to deal with Mordred. Better him than Arturia anyways. It was so tense back when Arthur hadn't been summoned yet...and then he came along and bonded with Mordred so well that it forced Arturia to finally settle matters with her kid. Thankfully I didn't have to use a command seal back then to keep them from killing each other. Unlike some other incidents..."

A dark aura rose off Gudako as she remembered the time she had summoned Hector when Euryale and Asterios were in the summoning chamber with her. The latter two had still held a grudge over what happened in Okeanos, and Gudako had to spend two command seals to keep them from maiming the new Servant. After her two seals were restored, she forced them to talk out their differences under the threat of yet another command seal, and now they were on civil terms. Other incidents included Atalanta, Jeanne and Jack getting into a major scuffle over the events in the Great Holy Grail War, and Gudako had to put off a summoning spree for three days (since she had to use all her command seals) to get the Servants to calm down. Thankfully, using all her command seals didn't sever her contracts with her other Servants.

Karna placed a hand on Gudako's shoulder. "Master, do not dwell on the incidents of the past. You do not have time for that."

Gudako shook herself. "Good point. Now, I'm pretty sure the Black Faction's tracking me. I've revealed myself to them too early and they've already seen all of my abilities. I suppose it's my fault, though. They probably have a huge target painted on my back."

"I caught a glimpse of your spell...what did Medea teach you?"

"Ehh, you saw Black Key Hell? I meant to keep that as a secret. Well, I trust you to keep it from Gilgamesh. I'm technically copying the Gate of Babylon but I'm only shooting Black Keys, not Noble Phantasms."

"And that is your ace? Master, revealing it so early in this war was a terrible decision."

"I would have lost to Siegfried's Master if I didn't do anything else, though. It's okay, I'll just have to stay out of the battles for a bit...hey, Kairi's calling." Gudako pulled out her chirping phone and hit Answer. "Hello? Shishigo-san?"

 _"Kairi's fine,"_ the gruff voice said. _"We've received some information from the priest. Berserker's currently rampaging towards the Yggdmillenia Castle."_

"Eh...what a pain. Spartacus is so hard to deal with. Um...this has happened before. You guys don't have to do anything; he's not going to reach them until nighttime."

 _"So what should we be doing?"_

"Just stay where you are. Karna and I are going to come back and we'll figure out a plan."

 _"Are you really planning on bringing him back?"_

"No. I just want to settle one other incident that's going to happen tonight."

 _"Well, be careful on your way back."_

"Okay."

Kairi greeted Gudako and Karna at the entrance to the mausoleum. "Saber and I were thinking about your proposal and Arthur's words about you further grounded our decision. We...will join you. For now, at least."

Gudako grinned. "That's good news, thanks for that. Although you're also doing this to get away from Shirou, aren't you?"

"More or less."

"Thought so."

"Are you going to attempt to bring Berserker back here?"

"No, he'll get captured by the Black Faction and be turned into a suicide bomb of some sorts. It's alright; it won't affect us much. How're Mordred and Arthur doing?"

"Well, they talked out their differences. I suppose your Arthur's had some experience with Saber, since he's currently fussing over her again, but she's enjoying the attention...I think."

Gudako smiled fondly. "Arthur always did know how to deal with Mordred despite him being from a completely different plane of existence and alternate version of the Arthurian legend."

"...say what?"

"I thought I mentioned it before. Don't worry about it. Shall we go in? I have some plans I need to run by all of you."

Upon entering the small alcove, Gudako was greeted with the sight of Arthur braiding Mordred's hair. The Knight of Treachery for the most part appeared to be enjoying the treatment, save for a few grumbles if Arthur accidentally pulled her hair.

Gudako quickly snapped a photo. "Looks like you two are doing well." Mordred started protesting when she saw Gudako's phone flash, but calmed down when Arthur patted her shoulder.

"How was your trip into Trifas, Master Gudako?" He asked, tying Mordred's hair in place. The red knight now had quite a nice braid on the left side of her face, accompanying the rest of her now free-flowing golden locks.

"We didn't do much. I did notice a bunch of golem familiars following us, though. Looks like the Black Faction's on to me. Don't worry, they didn't follow us back."

"You said you were going to make a plan for tonight," Kairi said as he sat down, making himself comfortable. "What is it?"

"Oh, I already thought of one on the way back. We're going to save Siegfried from dying."

"...care to repeat that?" Kairi said slowly. Arthur, on the other hand, simply sighed. Karna remained silent, but there was the faintest hint of exasperation in his eyes.

"Master, I thought we all requested you to not act completely suicidal."

"Hey, this is technically for all our benefits. Well, not the homunculus's, but

honestly, I think the outcome of this war went completely downhill when he got involved."

"What happened in this war?" Mordred asked.

"Long story short, a homunculus-his name is Sieg-escapes but accidentally gets killed, Siegfried gives his heart to save him, and then Sieg gained Command Seals to turn himself into Siegfried for a while. Stuff happens, Jeanne kinda fell in love with him, and he somehow ends up killing Amakusa in the end and taking the Greater Grail to the Reverse Side of the World."

Mordred and Kairi simply stared at Gudako. Karna and Arthur exchanged unreadable looks.

Gudako raised her hands in surrender. "I'm missing a lot of details, I get that. But it's all true. Point is, keeping Siegfried alive is a better option to change the outcomes of this war. Honestly, the way Jeanne and Astolfo described the later stages of the war, it seemed like everything revolved around Sieg. I'm still confused as to how he survived his battle with Amakusa, because he always avoids the subject when I bring it up."

"So you're saying we should keep an enemy Servant alive longer since it'd be more beneficial in the long term?" Kairi asked. "This sounds more insane than it is, but I'll trust your judgement on that. But how are you going to get that to happen? We're in the Black Faction's territory and actively moving around is a bad idea."

"Arthur, would you be able to delay Astolfo and the homunculus long enough for the Black Faction to intervene and then retreat? I'll give you another Craft Essence and call you back with a Command Seal if things get rough."

"Understood."

"Father, why would you agree so quickly?" Mordred asked.

"No one in this war save for all of you know about my existence and appearance. If Master Gudako sent Karna, it would be more suspicious as he is a known Red Servant. I currently appear to be a rogue Servant and unaffiliated with any faction, so my role in this would be to strike doubt into the hearts of the Black and Red Factions alike. Am I correct, Master?"

"Perceptive as always," Gudako said with a grin. "Alright, pass your Kaleidoscope over; I'll switch it with Volumen Hydragyrum. Just in case Vlad tries to impale you."

"Speaking of Craft Essences," Kairi said as Gudako and Arthur made a switch. "How do they work?"

"Each one has a different effect, so I need to be careful when equipping them on separate Servants. Some give extra mana so they don't use up a lot of their own when casting Noble Phantasms, some allow you increase your damage, and some even make healing spells more effective. For Mordred, I'd probably give you something like..." Gudako trailed off as she looked through her list. "Imaginary Numbers is a good one. You'd get a significant boost of mana once it's activated, and then you can blast your Noble Phantasm after a skirmish or two." She gave the card to Mordred. "It'll activate once you actually enter a battle."

"This looks cool, thanks!"

"Alright, so now all we have to do is wait until tonight."

"What will you do until then, Master Gudako?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Arthur flinched back at the burning flames that had replaced Gudako's eyes. "Roll the gacha."

 **Gudako, that's Hell you're walking into. Hope you guys liked this chapter!**

 **jmspikey: I suppose that's the reason why authors enjoy sticking Gudako into different timelines.**

 **ZenoZen: 100% true! I hope I didn't go too overboard with Mordred's reactions in this chapter.**

 **Master Kancer of Dank: Wait, you rolled Black Keys when rolling for Jalter? JP and NA are both confirmed to have taken out the Black Keys from the quartz gacha though. I guess Kirei's cursed you. And you have MLB Kirei CEs?! *pats on back***

 **xirons20: Thanks!**

 **Thaiboy: …let's not talk about my real life luck after I rolled my SSRs, shall we? Glad you like this fic!**

 **Dxhologram: So true!**

 **: Again, I'd appreciate it if you left reviews in English since Google Translate rarely works out…but hopefully my answer is clear? Eng: Arthur's probably not going to cook for Mordred since he's not staying in a place with a kitchen. I might put it in later, who knows. I don't plan on putting EMIYA in the story as Gudako won't be able to sustain three Servants on her own. He might show up in Chaldea. I doubt I can write Gudako into the Fifth Holy Grail War. Apocrypha's easier for me to warp because there are too many plot holes (in my opinion). Thanks for your review! Spanish: Arthur probablemente no va a cocinar para Mordred ya que no se quedará en un lugar con cocina.** **Podría ponerlo más tarde, quién sabe. No planeo poner EMIYA en la historia ya que Gudako no podrá sostener a tres Sirvientes por su cuenta. Él podría aparecer en Caldea. Dudo que pueda escribir a Gudako en la Quinta Guerra del Santo Grial. Los apócrifos son más fáciles de deformar porque hay demasiados agujeros en la trama (en mi opinión).** **Gracias por su comentario!**

 **Xiumin Snape: *fangirls about Arthur with you* Ehehe, I actually don't have any preferred name. Call me Shadows-san if you want. For a 3** **rd** **Servant…Gudako's going to collapse from the mana drain, but who knows. Stay tuned~ Thanks for your gacha blessing! I'm bad at saving quartz, so I need to rein in my gacha needs. Hope you get Arthur when he's out! Yes, I have read Fate Magnus Bellum. It's fantastic and I really do enjoy the relationship between Arthur and Mordred in that story.**

 **Guest: Hopefully what you read answers your question. He's going to show up, but as a minor role because I honestly think Apocrypha revolved too much around him.**

 **Gabriel790: Hope you liked Arthur's depiction in this chapter! To be honest, I'm terrible at writing ships and I'm not too keen on sticking relationships into this story. Maybe another story? I do have one in mind which I plan on writing after this one and ArthurxJeanne are a ship.**

 **King of Fans: Quartz exists in Fate/Extra? I've never played any of them so I don't know much about Hakuno. Zelretch and Merlin meeting would definitely result in a catastrophe. Glad you like this story and thanks for reviewing!**

 **keeper of all lore: Good ideas, but remember Gudako has a limit to how many Servants she can sustain. Summoning one of the Servants you mentioned would definitely mess with the current Servants, though.**

 **extremeninja09: I think I addressed that in this chapter? And yes, the anime felt a bit rushed and definitely forced when it came to SiegXJeanne. The light novels were maybe slightly better, in my opinion. And yes, Gudako would definitely need more apples for that extra mana.**

 **Yokohamawriters (guest): There's an UBW Abridged? I better go search that up. I had the inspiration of making Gudako call Karna Karnacchi from his Valentine's scene cutout, since that's how it got translated.**

 **Guest: Thanks! Glad you like it!**

 **9tailedterror (guest): Gudako asks: "What is even pragmatism?" Haha. I won't be writing a FoC-style spinoff to this story. I don't have the skills (or patience, I'll admit that) to explain how Chaldea would work, plus it'd probably sound too similar to FoC and people would think I'm plagiarizing. Fragments of Chaldea is a wonderfully written and unique take on FGO and I'm not going to duplicate it.**


	8. Chapter 7 and a half

**Did I say weekly updates? I meant triweekly…*dodges pitchforks and torches* I'm so sorry for not updating. Real life has thrown me so many curveballs these past few weeks and what can I say, being a student is hard. And I have to apologize for this chapter as well since it's a filler of some sorts. I will update the actual next chapter when I can, and we will finally see what happens to Sieg. I've been getting PMs from people either asking to get rid of him or to keep him alive, and keeping everyone satisfied is hard. Also, sorry to those whose PMs I haven't responded to. You know who you are. Again, answers to reviews at the end and hope you enjoy this short chapter on Gudako's rolls!**

 **Also: Good luck to everyone in Kara no Kyoukai in NA and JP! Hope you get Void or Asagami or anyone else you want!**

"Master Gudako...?" Arthur asked hesitantly when he saw Gudako's burning eyes.

She didn't respond as her fingers tapped the phone screen, taking her to the summoning section. A maniacal smile curved her lips as a dark, dark aura rose off her. Her eyes were now wide and round, with no sign of white sclerae.

Arthur, sensing a great danger, turned his pleading eyes to Karna. "Karna, what should we do?!"

"Let her roll," Karna replied. "Master Gudako has been suppressing her desires to roll the gacha for the past few days despite having 500 quartz. Letting them out now is better than waiting until later."

"Is she going to be alright though?" Kairi asked cautiously. "Her aura feels more dangerous than a Dead Apostle Ancestor's."

"And...roll!" Gudako slammed her finger down on the "10x roll" button and the screen loaded.

Inhaling, Arthur watched the virtual orbs spin. Gudako excitedly tapped the screen, squealing as she saw a golden Berserker card appear. "My third SR has come to me...wait...what?!" The card froze, flickering between gold and silver before settling on silver, the Servant revealing itself to be...Kiyohime. Tapping the screen a few more times revealed the rest of Gudako's roll: 3 Black Key Craft Essences, two of a shirtless Kotomine Kirei, 3 copies of Kiyohime, and 2 mapo tofu Craft Essences.

"..." Gudako stared at the screen.

"..." Arthur mentally debated whether or not to dematerialize.

"..." The faintest hint of uncertainty flickered in Karna's eyes.

"DAMN MY LUCK!" Gudako's scream reverberated throughout the mausoleum. Kairi had to clap his hands over his ears to muffle the sound, while Arthur and Karna exchanged resigned looks. Mordred simply looked confused.

"Master Gudako..." Arthur started. "It's only one roll. You should try again."

"No! I've had similar rolls like this before! Once it starts, I don't even get a 5* Craft Essence! I've had it with this stupid game!" Gudako tossed her phone in some random direction and started rolling around on the floor.

(By some miracle, Karna caught the phone and carefully placed it down next to Gudako.)

"Hey, if you're going to make such a big fuss over one roll then let me try," Mordred said. "You're going to get nowhere at this rate."

"I've been nowhere for the past few months," Gudako said morosely as she handed the phone to the blond knight.

"So I just press this 10x button, right?" Mordred tapped the button and the screen loaded.

Rainbow orbs spun around the summoning circle, and a golden Saber card appeared.

Gudako snatched the phone from Mordred. "Did you just roll me a gold Saber?!"

Mordred blinked. "Is that supposed to be good?"

Gudako squealed as the card revealed itself. "You rolled Altera! This is the best day of my life! Thanks Mordred!"

"Isn't that great, Mordred?" Arthur said happily before Mordred could reply. "Look at my cute daughter already rolling some of the best Servants for my Master!"

Mordred's cheeks coloured. "S-shut up, Father! I'm not cute, I'm a knight!"

Karna simply watched the two banter, faint amusement lighting up his eyes. "I wonder how you managed to settle the differences between you and Arturia with Mordred, Arthur."

Arthur simply grinned. "A doting father has to keep his secrets~"

Gudako's squeal drowned out any other noise. "MORDRED ROLLED ME ALTERA, HERSELF, AND ATALANTA IN ONE ROLL! YOU'RE THE BEST!"

"So...two SSRs and one SR. That is quite rare. Good job, Mordred," Karna said.

"Wait, I'm in this game as well?!" Mordred said, scooting over to see Gudako's screen.

Gudako turned up the volume so she could hear her new Servants introduce themselves.

 _"My name is Altera, descendant of the Huns and the God of War's warrior."_ Gudako squealed. "My first ever SSR Saber!"

Then came Mordred's. _"Saber, Mordred. Is Father here?"_

Arthur burst into laughter as Mordred's face burned red. "I wouldn't say that in a regular summoning!"

"So cute!"

Finally, Atalanta. _"Are you my Master? Nice to meet you."_

"Alright, so priorities are leveling Mordred and Atalanta. I'll have to level Altera later but this is my version of a thank-you to Mordred, I guess!" Gudako took out some Saber EXP crystals and gave them to Mordred. "Here's my thank-you gift! They taste really good."

Mordred bit into one, crunching loudly. Her eyes lit up. "These taste so much better than Gawain's cooking!"

"Arthur, Karna, you too." Gudako handed Saber and Lancer EXP crystals to the respective Servants, both nodding their thanks to their Master.

"So, are you going to continue rolling?" Kairi asked.

Gudako shook her head. "Not me. Considering Mordred managed to roll me two SSRs while I haven't rolled a single SR in months means I'm the one cursed with Black Keys, not my account."

"So then..."

Gudako's eyes burned again. "Mordred, keep on rolling!"

"E-eh?!"

In the end, Gudako spent a total of 480 quartz. Arthur, Mordred and Kairi alternated rolling to see who got the most rare Servants. Karna declined the offer, deciding to keep an eye on Gudako's reactions.

Needless to say, Gudako was ready to explode.

Whether from excitement, incredulity, or shock, no one knew.

Arthur: Managed to roll copies most of the better 5* Craft Essences and two versions of his counterpart Arturia: Saber Alter and Lancer. He also somehow managed to roll Jeanne.

Mordred: Rolled Arturia in her original Saber form and Lancer Alter. She also rolled Astolfo, Frankenstein, and Vlad. Also got a lot of SR Craft Essences.

(Gudako was ready to hug Mordred after she rolled Vlad but Karna restrained her just in time.)

Kairi: Mostly 3* Craft Essences that weren't Black Keys or Mapo, a few copies of his Craft Essence ("Now that's creepy," he remarked), Siegfried, and Fionn.

It was quite easy to deduce who surprisingly had the best luck in the entire group.

 **Short, yes. Crappy, extremely likely. I'm sorry. The next chapter will be longer and will be plot-related. As for update schedules, it may be biweekly now. Again, sorry. (Okay I'm apologizing too much, sorry for that.)**

 **ZenoZen: Please no fratricide or patricide in this fic. And no, I am not putting ArthurxJeanne in this story.**

 **Gabriel790: Sorry for the late update! That next story probably won't be out for a while, though.**

 **Guest: ….no. Please no.**

 **: Espero que hayan disfrutado las partes de la relación padre / hija en este capítulo.** **No estaba considerando un flashback con Emiya, pero lo consideraré.** **¿Y a qué te refieres con una historia de Gudako y Ritsuka? Si hablas de los dos protagonistas en la misma historia, no lo estoy considerando.** **Demasiado trabajo.**

 **xirons20: It's not that I don't like Sieg, I just feel like he could have been a better character if he didn't have so much plot armour.**

 **Alewar Warinot: Well, since it is the Kara no Kyoukai event now, I hope you got Shiki! As for the high-difficulty quests, I have no advice…do your best, I guess. Please keep some money in your wallet. Just save for the Servants you want the most.**

 **Guest: YEAHHHHHHH hope you liked this chapter then!**

 **King of Fans: You left 4 reviews, and thanks for all of them! Considering you left them as you progressed through the story, I think most of your ideas have been covered in my earlier chapters. Nice ideas on how to utilize Sieg's abilities, you're on to something~ I do hope you get better rolls soon!**

 **OneWhoCharms: Aww, thanks for such kind words! You really made my day. And yes, Siegfried and Karna are best boys.**

 **The First Hero King Gilgamesh: I've already reiterated that Gudako wouldn't be able to sustain them considering she's already keeping Karna and Arthur linked to the world with her mana. Maybe in flashbacks.**

 **Guest: I didn't say Sieg was going to die (considering the backlash it will have with Sieg fans) but he's definitely getting a minor role in this story.**

 **Zomblay: Thank you!**

 **Excite22: True, that would have been funny, but again, Gudako wouldn't be able to provide enough mana.**

 **Guest: Please, please, please just keep my different fandom stories apart. I'm glad your review means some people actually like my Raildex story, but please don't remind me on a completely different fandom. I will get there, I promise.**


	9. Chapter 8

**I am so sorry for this late update. As such, I decided on a double update. My only excuse would be real life and FGO, but I also had a major crisis debating whether or not to let Sieg live or die. Here's my decision, and if you're a hater, then feel free to find another fanfic to read but no flames since this choice is final. Sieg will be alive, but he has a minor role. He won't get Siegfried's abilities nor become a Master. But I'm not killing him. Feel free to press the back button right now if you don't like this. The rest of you, enjoy these two chapters!**

"Master."

"Hm?"

"Master."

"What, Karna?"

"It's almost time."

"Ehh? But I wanted to battle with Mordred a bit more. I'm almost at bond level 6!"

"That's fast!" Mordred yelped.

"Master, if you do not execute your plan in the next 15 minutes it will fail."

Gudako sighed and put down her phone. "Let's go over this one more time, shall we?"

Kairi, Mordred, Arthur, and Karna nodded.

"Arthur, equipped with Volumen Hydragyrum, will infiltrate Yggdmillenia Forest and intercept Siegfried and his Master from reaching Astolfo and the homunculus...Sieg was his name, right? Or at least the name he will use. Karna, you get a second Volumen Hydragyrum. You'll be backup. In case Arthur ends up getting locked in battle with Siegfried, you get Sieg out of there and back here. I've been thinking about it, and we should keep Sieg safe. He can probably help us out."

"Wouldn't bringing Karna along be a bad idea?" Arthur asked. "The Black Faction will know that I am affiliated with the Red Faction and then it won't take them long to trace me back to you. You will be put in more danger."

"It's a risk we have to take. Actually...Karna, stay hidden unless Arthur is completely occupied. I'll just call you back immediately with a Command Seal if you guys get stuck. They'll restore themselves in a few days anyways."

"Wait, your Command Seals restore themselves?!" Kairi gasped.

"Mhm. I'm a Master with over 100 Servants; how would I be able to keep the troublesome ones in line with only 3 command seals? There were a couple incidents that forced me to use all 3 of them at once. I had to spend 3 days doing nothing to wait for them to replenish. Anyways, back on topic. Karna, here you go." Gudako pulled a Craft Essence out of her phone and handed it to Karna, who took it with a nod of thanks.

"Shall I go then?" Arthur asked.

Gudako nodded.

"Don't get into trouble, Mordred!" Arthur ruffled Mordred's hair before she could protest and swiftly dematerialized.

"I will be taking my leave as well." Karna dematerialized after he finished speaking.

"Now, the question is, what to do with Sieg," Gudako mused. "He's not the version who's going to receive Siegfried's heart and gained powers beyond a normal homunculus, so he'll still be a pretty weak guy in general who's only useful for a mana battery...nah, that's too cruel. Jeanne would never let me hear the end of it once she finds out. But what to do then? He's not a Servant so I can't form a contract with him, and he has no memories of the self that foiled Amakusa's plans in the war...oh, I hate parallel worlds," Gudako groaned. "I could try strengthening his body with the items I have, but there would be no point in bringing him back to Chaldea..."

"Sounds like you're in quite the dilemma," a mysterious voice spoke.

"E-ehh?"

One of the perks of being contracted under the same Master was being able to communicate telepathically with the other Servant. Arthur and Karna did such as they sped their way through Yggdmillenia forest.

 _Karna, what do you make of this entire situation?_ Arthur asked, his voice serious and void of all the playfulness he had around Mordred earlier.

 _What part of it, King of Knights? Is it this rescue mission or is it this Great Holy Grail War in general?_

 _This entire Great Holy Grail War. I understand our Master's motives for this rescue mission but this entire war feels strange to me._

 _Is it due to the fourteen-Servant rule?_

 _I suppose...but why would our Master be called to this particular war in the first place? The 1000 Saint Quartz would definitely be an incentive, but there are multiple other Holy Grail Wars Zelretch could have sent her to._

 _I do not know either, but we should ask Master Gudako later. We are close._

Karna and Arthur slowed down as they sensed two Servants up ahead. Still in spirit form, Arthur slowly made his way into the clearing, where he immediately noticed Astolfo and Siegfried locking weapons with each other, while the homunculus cowered beneath a fat blond man.

 _Were we too late?!_

 _Arthur, reveal yourself. I will be your backup._

Trusting Karna's advice, Arthur materialized, his hood on and Excalibur hidden by Invisible Air. Siegfried and Astolfo turned as one to gape at him, and Gordes stumbled away from the homunculus, staring at Arthur in shock. "Servant?!"

"Step away from the homunculus, magus," Arthur ordered, his voice cold and authoritative.

"H-hey! What business do you have with him?!" Astolfo yelled. "He's innocent!"

"I am here to aid you, Rider of Black." Arthur stepped forward steadily, and Gordes quickly shrunk back behind Siegfried, who moved in front of his Master to protect him.

"Who are you affiliated with?" Siegfried asked.

"That information is not required for this conversation. My contractor's desire is to keep that homunculus away from the Black Faction, and I have sworn to complete that task."

"You're not Saber of Red! How is a rogue Servant even here in this Holy Grail War?! Enough of this madness! Saber, eliminate this Servant at once!" Gordes yelled.

Arthur readied his sword, tensing as he noted Siegfried take a ready position as well.

"I apologize for intruding, but I believe the Red Faction will be the ones taking this homunculus," Karna said coolly as he materialized, his spear pointing at Siegfried's neck. "We meet again, Saber of Black." _Follow my lead,_ he mentally instructed Arthur. _We must prevent your connection to Master Gudako from being revealed at all costs._

 _I will trust your judgement, Hero of Charity._

"Lancer of Red," Siegfried said in slight anticipation. "You did not choose a favourable time to appear."

"Yet I am here."

"W-why are you here?! Where's your Master?!" Gordes cried out.

"She ordered me to retrieve the homunculus solely to keep him from being returned to the Black Faction. I do not know of this rogue Servant's intentions, but we will be the ones taking the homunculus."

"Why are you so obsessed over one pathetic homunculus anyways?! He is the property of the Black Faction so this our problem! What is your Master plotting?!"

"I do not have any reason to inform you, Master of Saber of Black." Karna turned and leveled a stare at Astolfo, who was currently trying to escape the clearing with the homunculus trailing behind him. "Where do you think you are going, Rider of Black?"

"Obviously to get him away from you psychos!" The androgynous Servant yelled. "He asked me for help so I'm helping him get away from this place! He deserves to live a life free from this war!"

In one swift movement, Arthur dematerialized and reappeared right in front of Astolfo, giving Karna space to attack Siegfried if needed. "I told you earlier that I was here to aid you, Rider of Black," he said quietly, out of Gordes' earshot. "I know what fate will befall the homunculus if he is taken back to the Black Faction. You will not be able to complete this task on your own."

Astolfo scratched his head. "You're right, but I can't trust you right here right now. You appeared out of nowhere and you know about the entire situation."

"Rider," the homunculus said softly. "I think we can trust him. I don't know...but he has a good heart."

"Really? You think so?" Before Astolfo could say something else, he yelped and ducked as a chunk of rock flew past his head.

Siegfried and Karna had clashed, although both were holding back as not to harm Gordes, who was scrambling backwards as fast as he could.

"Ah, I guess I have no choice!" Astolfo grabbed Arthur's free hand and shoved it into the homunculus's. "If he trusts you, then you should be a good guy, right? Hurry up and get him out of here-and don't come back! I don't want you throwing away the life we gave you to come back to this bad place, okay?"

"Thanks...Rider."

"Thank you, Rider of Black," Arthur said gratefully. Before he could take his leave, though, a new voice came.

"What is going on here?!" Jeanne ran into the clearing, causing Karna and Siegfried to momentarily pause their battle. "No way...a rogue Servant was really summoned?!" She stared at Arthur, trying to discern his identity. Her purple eyes widened. "You are-"

 _Master Gudako! Call me back, right now!_

 _E-eh? Okay, okay! By the power of my Command Seals, I order Arthur Pendragon to return to my side!_

With a burst of mana, space folded around Arthur and the homunculus and they disappeared.

Karna smiled internally as his spear clanged against Balmung. _Master, I should return by myself within the next 5 minutes. If I do not return by then, call me with a Command Seal_.

 _Be careful!_

"By the name of the Ruler-class Servant, I order you to cease your fight for now," Jeanne's clear voice cut through the area. "I must confirm some things."

"..." Siegfried could only sigh and lower his sword. Once again, his battle with Karna had to be interrupted.

"Ah, Ruler-san, do you have any idea who that was?" Gordes asked, apparently recovered after Arthur disappeared.

Before Jeanne could reply, the clip-clop of a horse's hooves could be heard, and Vlad, Darnic, Celenike, Fiore, Avicebron, Chiron, and Caules entered the scene.

"..."

"Well, this is awkward," Astolfo laughed uneasily.

"That's an understatement," Caules muttered under his breath.

"Lancer of Red, what business do you have here trespassing alone in enemy territory?" Vlad asked.

"Simply my master's orders," Karna replied.

"I sensed the summoning of a 15th Servant and rushed over here once I had a confirmation of his location, but I do not know the full details. I wish to know what happened. The Greater Grail should not have allowed this to happen." Jeanne glanced at Astolfo and Siegfried.

Astolfo giggled nervously. "Well, uh..."

"Rider!" Celenike snapped.

"Eep!" Astolfo flinched.

"I believe I can fill in the majority of the details," Darnic said smoothly. "Caster reported a missing homunculus who was seen with Rider, and I sent Saber and his Master to retrieve the homunculus unharmed. My guess is that Saber was able to intercept them but was interrupted by the rogue Servant and Lancer of Red. What happened next, I do not know."

"My Master gave me a location and ordered me to retrieve the homunculus for the Red Faction," Karna said. "However, the rogue Servant disappeared with the homunculus, presumably transported by a Command Seal."

"How would the rogue Servant get close enough to the homunculus in the first place?" Avicebron asked.

Celenike glared at her Servant.

Astolfo scratched his head. "I kinda let him go with the Servant?"

"Rider, do you believe your actions are a betrayal to the Black Faction?" Vlad asked dangerously.

"Hm...nope!"

"Caster, restrain him. We can decide on what to do with him later. As for you, Lancer of Red...you are on enemy territory. We have full authority under the Grail War to kill you right here with the combined power of all our Servants."

"I do not mind taking on all of you," Karna said coolly. "Will you mediate this battle, Ruler?"

"Actually, before you start, did you figure out the rogue Servant's identity?" Darnic asked. "We will need to make preparations to fight against a possible third party."

Jeanne nodded. "Saber-class, Arthur Pendragon."

Fiore drew in a sharp gasp. "A third Saber-class Servant and the famed King of Knights?!"

"Calm, Fiore. Despite his legend, he is only one Servant. We will discuss strategies later." Darnic raised his hand, and the Masters all retreated. The Black Servants readied their weapons

Karna closed one eye and raised his spear, but he could already sense Gudako calling him back.

 _Karna, by the power of my Command Seal, I order you to return to my side!_

Space warped around him, and the last thing Karna could see were the surprised looks on Vlad's and Chiron's faces.

 **Sumanai is alive, guys! And if I haven't said it earlier: THANKS FOR 100+ REVIEWS! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME AND I LOVE YOU ALL FOR SUPPORTING THIS CRAZY STORY!**

 **(So many reviews to reply to, oh my. I think I'll start PMing users, but who knows.)**

 **Amatsumi: Remember that the summoned Atalanta is only in the MOBILE game. She's only there as a Servant summoned into the gacha game. So no character bloat because I will not make any further mention of the in-game Servant. As for Karna's luck…well, his luck is D-ranked (same as Mordred's but she's got the whole Arturia stuff going on), so him getting Arjuna is high.**

 **xirons20: Same here, my friend. Same here.**

 **alexsjd: No.**

 **Gabriel790: Glad you liked my chapter! A lot of people in RL say I apologize too much, I think he's rubbing off on me. Congrats on getting Fujino! Now treat her well since she's awesome.**

 **Alewar Warinot: Damn, you're good at farming mats. I'm too lazy most of the time to farm skill gems. Good job on maxing your Servants' skills and limit breaking Mona Lisa! I got too busy to get all the copies. In my opinion, you should max Jeanne's skills since she's still the best staller in the game (and her later NP upgrade makes her even better). And you're seriously going to give me your NA friend code?! Thank you so much! I've been looking for Tamamo supports.**

 **ZenoZen: I really didn't want to make Mordred a tsundere as well, but she usually only acts like that around Arthur in this story. Sorry if it looked like she was a complete tsundere all the time. Hope you liked this chapter and the other one!**

 **: Tus ideas son interesantes, pero no las escribiré. Me gusta seguir mi propio horario, pero tal vez alguien los escriba algún día. Lo siento.**

 **OneWhoCharms: *pats on back* Downlowd QooApp or an APK?**

 **Ravenext: Read the above!**

 **Fimbulvetr: Same.**

 **iZuikaku: I don't believe I understood a single thing you just said…? I'm honestly not sure when exactly the spelling "Altria" popped up, but I seriously don't understand what you're saying.**

 **King of Fans: Wow nice.**

 **Xiumin Snape: *pats on back* If you can afford to wait two years, KnK will get a rerun. Congrats (?) on being an archer magnet, I'm a Saber magnet (not counting Arturia since she hasn't shown up). Thanks for the review!**

 **Iheartlife888: Arjuna spooked me as well when I rolled for Karna, so we're in the same boat. My luck's been declining pretty badly so I should hold off on rolling for a bit. Thanks for the review!**

 **LunarShadow 1906: I haven't been actually spooked yet (actually, who am I kidding, Fionn spooked me and I burned him.) Glad you like my writing and I will take your advice into consideration :-D**

 **YuukiAsuna-Chan: I guess you're right about Zelretch and Merlin. Sieg is not dying. Gudako does bond with her Servants but I'm not going to specifically focus on it.**

 **Stratos263: Whoa, 5 consecutive reviews! Thank you so much! And yes, Black Key Hell is fashioned after the Gate of Babylon.**

 **correnhimself316: Gudako can use Quartz either in the gacha or outside in the real world to summon Servants. Don't question the logic, but that's how it works in this story.**


	10. Chapter 9

**Again, I am so sorry for the messed-up chapter earlier. Here's the (hopefully not messed up) part 2, and although it's a bit short, I hope you enjoy it! I will reply to reviews (real ones, not complaints) in chapter 10.**

"Seems like you're in quite the dilemma," Zelretch said calmly as Gudako shrieked in shock, falling backwards and onto her butt. "I don't have something on my face, right?"

"Who are you?!" Mordred growled, summoning her armour and sword, but Kairi quickly waved her down.

"Wizard Marshall!" He exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!"

"I came to check up on Gudako. Oh, but I'm only staying for a few minutes or so. I may have interrupted a certain parallel world's Lorelei Barthomeloi's rant when I teleported here."

Kairi sweatdropped. "That's beyond dangerous..."

"Anyways, I did hear your last few words, Gudako. You intend on saving Sieg even though it means he'll be without Siegfried's heart and a stronger body?"

"What about it?" Gudako groaned. "I have no idea how to get him back to Chaldea and he won't be the Sieg that Jeanne and Amakusa know. Even then, I..."

Zelretch nodded. "Since you're doing quite well in this war, I'll help you out. Consider it a bonus along with your quartz."

Gudako's eyes shone. "Thank you! But what are you going to do?"

Zelretch reached into an alternate space and pulled out a vial with a mysterious glittery substance. "I anticipated you would probably do this, so once Sieg arrives, make him drink this. It will strengthen his body as well as restore the memories of his counterpart. He won't be able to utilize Siegfried's abilities or gain Command Seals, but I think he'll be able to help you out quite well."

Gudako eyed the vial. "What exactly is this?"

"You don't want to know. The Second Magic is highly complex." Zelretch tossed the vial to Gudako, who scrambled to catch it. "If I'm not mistaken, Saber should be returning quite soon, so I'll take my leave. I'll return once the war is over." And with that, Zelretch disappeared, leaving a dumbstruck Kairi, Mordred, and Gudako.

"I wasn't dreaming, right?" Kairi said cautiously.

Gudako would have replied had Arthur's voice not spoke in her brain just then.

 _Master Gudako! Call me back, right now!_

 _E-eh?_ But Gudako quickly got over her shock. _Okay, okay! By the power of my Command Seals, I order Arthur Pendragon to return to my side!_

Gudako's outermost Command Seal flashed red before vanishing, and Arthur appeared in front of his Master, carrying a pale boy with him. "Master!"

"Where's Karna?" Gudako asked as she helped the homunculus sit down.

"He's battling Siegfried."

 _Master, I should return by myself within the next 5 minutes. If I do not return by then, call me with a Command Seal_.

 _Be careful!_

Gudako nodded. "I just received a message from him." She knelt down in front of the boy, putting a reassuring smile on her face. "Hi there, my name's Gudako. You're completely safe here, I guarantee that."

"What do you want with me?" The homunculus asked softly.

"It is up to you whether you want to help me or not," Gudako said. "However, I want you to drink this. It will strengthen your body and give you a longer life. We will talk afterwards since you will most likely be disoriented. It won't kill you, trust me."

The homunculus cautiously took the vial from Gudako, uncorked it, and tipped the contents into his mouth, grimacing at the taste but swallowing. His eyes widened before they rolled up into the back of his head, and he fell unconscious.

"Was that supposed to happen?" Mordred asked.

Gudako quickly placed her fingers by the boy's neck to check for a pulse. "He's just out of it. We'll talk later." Checking the time on her phone, she held out her hand. "Time to call Karna back. Karna, by the power of my Command Seal, I order you to return to my side!"

Karna appeared with a flash of light, looking just the slightest bit concerned. "Jeanne figured out your identity, King of Knights."

"Well, that's not good," Gudako muttered. "Do you think she knows he's contracted to me?"

"I doubt it," Karna said. "We should have left the Black Faction quite confused and apprehensive about the future. They now think there is a third party to this war, and they should be proceeding more cautiously than usual."

"That's the good news then," Gudako sighed. "You guys weren't hit by anything, right? Like Vlad's stakes?"

Karna and Arthur shook their heads.

"Then keep your Craft Essences for now, I'll give you better ones later. For now, we should just rest, I think." With that, Gudako flopped onto a mat and closed her eyes. "Someone wake me up when Sieg wakes up. You guys can do whatever until then." The sound of her soft breathing filled the air not long after.

Karna, Arthur, and Mordred exchanged glances. "I will go scout around Trifas," Karna said quietly.

"I'll stay here with Mordred then," Arthur responded. "I hope you will not run into any trouble, Karna."

"I will not." Karna dematerialized.

"Master, what're you gonna do?" Mordred asked Kairi.

"I was going to sleep. but do you need me for anything?" He asked.

"No. Go sleep."

"If you say so."

Arthur and Mordred gave a final glance at the sleeping homunculus before silently agreeing to keep guard outside the mausoleum. They both dematerialized in a burst of light.

All the while, the homunculus later known as Sieg slept, new memories and old mixing within his mind.

 **So, who's ready for Arc 2 (JP) and America and the Da Vinci event (NA)? Answer: not me. Chapter 10 will be up in a few weeks, and please review!**


	11. Chapter 10

**I'm so sorry for the late update! I had this chapter finished a few days ago but I was swamped with assignments and tests (which I bombed, sadly) and then Da Vinci and Lostbelt #1 kept me busy on both servers (and now Fate/Zero and Journey to the West, we're not getting any breaks T_T). At least I cleared the Lostbelt and now ship Anastasia and Kadoc. Fight me. Sorry to say the action will start next chapter, but updates may come a bit more slowly since I have exams coming up. Enjoy!**

The mausoleum's silence was broken by a _very_ cheerful ringtone.

 _"Kimi to (hai!) issho ga ichiban (iei!), suki yotte motto gyutto ne~ kimi wo (hai!)_ _atarashii basho e to (iei!) hippattecchau ruranra! okurenai de ne~"_

Kairi sat up with a surprised yelp, dropping his bone tools. "What the hell is this music?!"

Karna materialized, spear at the ready, before he realized it was Gudako's phone and reached over to shake her awake. "Master, your phone is ringing."

Arthur and Mordred materialized as well, both staring at Gudako's phone in awed disbelief.

Gudako groaned and fumbled around blindly for her phone, her eyes still closed from sleep. Grabbing it, she hit the Answer button and pressed the phone to her ear. "Whoever it is, you better have a damn good reason to wake me up this early in the morning or else."

 _"It's noon, Gudako-san. I was calling merely to inform you that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon have been completed and that we will commence our attack tonight. If you wish to come over, now is the best time to do so,"_ Amakusa's smooth voice intoned.

"Yeah, yeah, thanks for the information." Gudako yawned loudly. "I'll come over with Lancer later this afternoon, then. Please don't kill me or take my Command Seals, and-oh yeah, can you keep Shakespeare out of my way? I might accidentally kill him if he comes within my line of vision. High-school nightmares and all that."

 _"Noted. We anticipate your arrival then."  
_

"Yeah, bye." Gudako hung up. "Well, my transportation's handled for the battle. Sorry, Kairi-san, you and Mordred are probably going to have to carjack a vehicle to get there yourselves."

"Wait, what's going on?" Kairi asked.

"The Red Faction's going to launch an attack on Yggdmillenia Castle and steal the Greater Grail tonight. This is the first and last major battle between the Red and Black Factions, so you and Mordred wouldn't want to miss it. In the original timeline, Jackie's rampage through the city with you fighting Fiore postponed the attack to tomorrow night, but since I gave her stuff to replenish her mana, she's no longer attacking magi. That reminds me, I'll go visit her today. As for what happens tonight...I'll meet with you guys in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon if things go as I planned."

"What else is going to happen tonight?" Kairi asked.

"Mordred's going to end up in a battle with Rider of Black-that's Astolfo, Sieg was originally going to interfere and Frankenstein pops up as well, but since Sieg's with us, that might not happen. How _is_ Sieg, by the way?" Gudako asked, making her way to the sleeping homunculus. "He's still asleep."

As if on cue, Sieg slowly blinked his red eyes open. "Where...am I?" He rasped out.

"You're in the hideout of one of the Red Faction Masters. Do you understand the circumstances you're in?"

Sieg nodded slowly. "My memories are mixing together, but I believe I know what happened. This is another version of the Great Holy Grail War where I never received Siegfried's heart or Command Seals, right?"

"Smart," Gudako complimented. "If you remember any of our conversation last night, you should know I'm not affiliated with the Red or Black Faction even if Karna's my Servant. My name is Gudako, and I'm also from a different timeline. I was sent here to prevent most of the events that originally occurred from happening, and so far, I've messed with the timeline a lot. Siegfried is still alive, Karna is no longer with the Red Faction, and Jack the Ripper is guaranteed not going to kill any of us."

Sieg blinked. "If this is the morning after I was supposed to be saved by Siegfried, is the Red Faction due to attack Yggdmillenia Castle tomorrow?"

"No, they've moved up their schedule. They attack tonight. I'm hitching a ride on the Hanging Gardens of Babylon with Karna."

"I see...may I still join this battle? I may not have Command Seals or Siegfried's heart, but I still wish to rescue my fellow homunculi."

"If that's what you want. However, I want you to agree that you won't do anything stupid like battling a Servant, okay?" Gudako said.

"Agreed."

"Alright, I'm giving you some control over Arthur, then."

"Master?!" Arthur said, shocked.

"You're going to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid; plus you need an extra source of mana since I can't maintain both you and Karna when you're battling. Your task is to liberate the homunculi only, alright? I'll take care of the rest," Gudako said seriously.

Sieg nodded, knowing he couldn't do much with his current body. "Thank you, Gudako-san."

"This is for my benefit as well," Gudako said as she tossed a Craft Essence of a book to Sieg. "The Book of the False Attendant would normally transfer Command Seals to the owner but not the mana flow, but I tweaked it with Medea's help to reverse the original function. Arthur will mainly rely on you for mana, but I have the Command Seals. Arthur, I don't want you to use Excalibur unless necessary, so keep Volumen Hydragyrum on you. Since Jeanne already knows who you are, there's no reason to keep your identity concealed. Let everyone think the mysterious third faction Master made Sieg a proxy Master to control you. I want you guys at Yggdmillenia Castle tonight. I'll give Arthur instructions where to regroup, but it's most likely going to be in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Do we all understand our roles?"

Everyone nodded.

"To recap: we're all going to end up on the battlefield and get out alive. I'm going to go pay Jack a visit; Karna, you're coming with me. Mordred, make sure you don't kill Frankenstein because she's a sweetheart. None of you target Jack as well, please. And yes, they may be enemies but the factions won't last long anyways after this battle. Arthur, keep Sieg safe and alert me if anything goes wrong. Kairi-san, good luck."

"Thanks for the information, Gudako," Kairi said, firmly grasping Gudako's hand and shaking it.

"You better make it out alive so I can spar with Father again," Mordred half-threatened.

"Mo-chan, don't be too hard on my Master," Arthur said, ruffling Mordred's hair. "But in all honesty, Master, please be safe."

"Thank you for your efforts, Gudako-san," Sieg said.

"Glad you guys all decided to join my crazy plan," Gudako said gratefully. "Later!" She disappeared out of the mausoleum, Karna following her.

"Now then..." Kairi said, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. "Guess we'll wait a bit longer."

* * *

"I really do hope everything turns out okay, though," Gudako said worriedly as she walked with Karna. "I originally wanted to just mess up this war but now I want to keep everyone that showed up in Chaldea alive...guess that might not happen but they deserve happier endings in their original Grail Wars."

"You cannot change everyone's fates, Master," Karna said firmly. "We understand that and respect your choices. Remember this isn't your real battle as well. Doing your best and staying alive is all what Arthur and I want for you right now."

"I know...thanks, Karna."

Karna was about to reply before a cry of "Onee-chan!" was heard and a small white blur crashed into Gudako.

"Jackie!" Gudako gushed, hugging the small Servant. "Are you doing well?"

"Yup! Thanks to you and Mother!"

"That's great! Where is your mother, by the way?"

"She's behind us!"

Reika walked up to Gudako and Karna, a slight smile on her face. "I was wondering why Jack suddenly ran off. Thank you again for your aid a few days ago."

"No problem," Gudako said easily. "Do you still have any crystals or apples left or do you need more?"

"Can we please have some more crystals? They were really yummy."

"Sure, let's just go somewhere more quiet to get them out."

The strange group made their way to a small, quiet park, where Gudako shook her phone and 20 more Assassin EXP crystals fell out. "Here!"

Jack happily began crunching on one, and Gudako handed a few Lancer EXP crystals to Karna as well. While the two Servants were busy snacking, Gudako turned to Reika. "I was actually going to look for you two to give you some major information."

"What's going to happen?" Reika asked.

"The Red Faction will be launching an attack on the Black Faction's stronghold tonight. Their target is the Greater Grail. All the Servants from both factions will most likely show up, but in the end, the Greater Grail will be taken by the Red Faction. I am hitching a ride with them to the battlefield with Lancer, but it is up to you whether or not Jackie joins the battle or not. Since the Black Faction still has no idea you currently exist, you can choose to stay in the shadows of this battle or not show up at all."

"I'll let Jack decide for herself," Reika replied. "We can't communicate through telepathy, but we do have cellphones. If she's in trouble, I'll call her back with a Command Seal."

"Sounds good," Gudako said with a smile. "Well then, I should be leaving. I need to grab lunch and then meet up with the leader of the Red Faction. See you around."

"Onee-chan, you're leaving already?" Jack asked sadly.

"Sorry, Jackie," Gudako said, ruffling her hair. "We'll see each other again soon if we're both careful, so be safe, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Alright, our last stop..." Gudako muttered as she stood in front of an inconspicuous-looking door in a normal-looking fence. "The Hanging Gardens of Babylon." She had changed into her battlesuit, and Karna was in his armour. "Karna, any Servants in the vicinity?" She had bypassed an earlier Bounded Field meant to turn away regular humans, but Gudako had seen through it and entered without any problems.

"I can sense Amakusa Shirou Tokisada and Semiramis farther in the building. Shakespeare, Atalanta, and Achilles are with them. They are most likely in the throne room."

"So much for not seeing Shakespeare," Gudako grumbled. She didn't really _hate_ the Caster, per se, but the trauma from being forced to study and analyze his plays in school warped her mind to unconsciously throw Black Keys at him whenever they were in the same room. That combined with him feeling the need to spout lines from his plays at random times often forced nearby Servants to keep the two from entering the same room.

 _Shall I keep you in check then?_ Karna asked telepathically. Gudako understood his reason for mental communication-who knew what familiars Semiramis had spying on them.

 _Please do._

 _I admit the Count of Monte Cristo is better suited since he is much faster than me, but I will do my best._

 _Maybe I should summon Edmond or Jeanne Alter here...no, no, stop looking at me like that, I know I won't be able to sustain them. I was just thinking._ Gudako reached out and knocked on the door, which swung open. "Wow, an invitation. I feel so honoured," she said sarcastically. "Lead the way, Karnacchi."

"I advise you to not call me that when in the presence of the others."

* * *

"So they have arrived," a beautiful elfin female in a black dress said, lounging upon her throne. "The girl and her Servant...will they help or hinder us, I wonder?"

"It is up to them to decide," Shirou said calmly. "Help or hinder, they will not be able to stop our plan in the end even with their knowledge."

"What I'm more curious about right now is her request for Caster to be removed from her presence," Semiramis said casually.

"It appears to have something to do with educational systems, I think."

Semiramis glanced down to where Achilles appeared to be lounging on the ground, attempting to talk with Atalanta, while Shakespeare was furiously taking notes of their little exchange. "This war is truly an interesting one," she remarked.

Just then, an orange-haired girl in an orange battlesuit marched through the open entrance, a male in golden armour trailing behind her.

"Let's get this party started, shall we?" Gudako called.

 **Carnival Phantasm reference~**

 **No sympathy from me when Shakespeare gets assaulted by Black Keys in the next chapter *cough* spoilers *cough***

 **Answers to reviews (actual comments) are here. If I missed one of your reviews (me assuming it was a complaint against the little fiasco I had with chapter 9), tell me and I'll reply in the next chapter.**

 **extremeninja09: Hope this chapter answered your question about Sieg. And yeah, the Black Faction was really at a disadvantage even though our dear Sumanai wasn't the best of Sabers. But he was one of the more powerful Servants. Rip Black Faction.**

 **correnhimself316: Thank you! :)**

 **Stratos263: I agree.**

 **xirons20: Thank you!**

 **Gabriel790: Thanks a lot!**

 **H20 Ferrum Dominus: Thank you so much!**

 **King of Fans: I agree. Since the Da Vinci event is now over, I do hope you got Jalter! Waifu aside, she really is pretty good at gameplay.**

 **M1dnightCh0rus: I'm keeping quiet on that.**

 **Luigi the Dusk: 1. Let's just let Gudako assume she has enough to beat down Shakespeare and then some, shall we? Can't have our protagonist get salty over** _ **not**_ **having enough Black Keys. 2. Thanks a lot! 3. Oh, ships…please stop distracting me with new ideas when I already have a whole number of other fics listed for different pairings. Well, I'll see what I can do.**

 **Fateaid: KARNA IS NOT GOING TO DIE. HE WILL NOT DIE. AS THE WRITER I 10000% GUARANTEE KARNA SURVIVES THIS WAR. HE WILL STAY ALIVE, I SWEAR BECAUSE I'M NOT NASU WHO KILLED OFF OUR SUN BOY TO ADVANCE THE PLOT. Rant aside, glad you like my story! Thanks!**

 **Reishin Amara: Hey, good point. But what does that say for all the Servants that haven't shown up in Chaldea yet? As for Gilgamesh…well, other Servants have Golden Rule and his luck rank is A. If Gudako really was thinking, she'd probably get Euryale to roll since she has EX rank luck….hm….**

 **Guest: Honestly that makes for an interesting story. Probably another one then. Not this one, though, since Gudako does have limitations. Orleans 2.0 sounds fun. Maybe Riyo!Gudako should do that :P**

 **Padparadscha Blue: I'm guessing periods don't show up in chapter titles, since it was originally titled 7.5. I don't think I can fix it, but thanks for bringing it to my attention! There's no way this story's going to have 75 chapters though, I'll go crazy before that happens. Which server do you play by the way? NA or JP? Both my friend lists are full but I really should start getting rid of the inactive people.**

 **bootlegwat: Hmmm…..hm…..hm…..**

 **Satuski Rin: Sorry for the late chapter, hope you liked it! Glad you also like Gudako's personality, the girl just wants the best for her favourite Servants. Thanks for bringing the formatting issue to my attention, my original documents had lines in between the scenes but I guess the site deleted them. I'll fix it up soon.**

 **ACTUALLY ANOTHER IMPORTANT NOTE PLEASE READ:**

 **Okay, I know this update is super late (I'm so sorry!), but at the rate school's going, updates may be just as delayed as this one. As the author, I do have exams (and balancing 2 FGO accounts, I know I'm crazy) and real life commitments, so I don't have a lot of time to write. I plan on going back to my biweekly (weekly if I'm lucky) updates in July, so please bear with the slow updates for now.**

 **On the other hand, thank you all so much for the positive comments, criticism, and general gacha roll shares on this fic! You guys are awesome and I love you all!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Ehehe….I'm back?**

 **I'm so, so, sorry for not updating in July despite saying that I'd update. I was hit with a major case of writer's block and literally could not write a word for a few months or so. I hope this double update makes up for it since I'm not sure how much I'll be able to write in the next few weeks. But rest assured, I guarantee that this story will finish before 2019. I promise. Enjoy (Shakespeare getting hit with Black Keys)!**

 **Also, a quick note: Please, please, please do not put NA or JP friend codes in reviews. My friend lists are full.**

* * *

"Welcome to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Gudako, Lancer," Shirou said with a friendly smile.

"Ho? You're Lancer's Master, girl? What's your name?" Achilles asked, sitting up.

"Fujimaru Ritsuka, although I prefer Gudako."

"You're quite young for a Master," Atalanta said with a critical eye. "How old are you?"

"Ehehe, I guess? I'm only 18. Well, age doesn't matter as long as I know what I'm doing, right?" Gudako turned to Semiramis and curtsied. "When do we head off?"

Semiramis' lips quirked up slightly at the respect that Gudako still showed her. "We move out in 1 hour. I give you permission to explore as you wish, but any locked doors will remain locked. You may use this time to also interact with the other Red Servants if you like.

"Sounds good to me," Gudako said cheerfully. "I'm going to go explore then. But before that..." A dark aura started to mist off her as her lips curved up into a tormented smile. "I think I'll take revenge for all the torture I went through in high school." A multitude of portals opened up. Tips of Black Keys poked out, all aimed in the direction of Shakespeare.

The Caster began to sweat. "...What fault have I committed against who I have just met...?"

Gudako staggered around to face Shakespeare, her eyes wide and crazed. Even Shirou flinched a bit at her stare. "I went through hell in high school...analyzing your plays...reenacting your plays...being forced to memorize sonnets and monologues...writing stupid analyses on Lear and Hamlet and Macbeth and the like...almost failing school thanks to you...NOW, I CAN HAVE MY REVENGE-gyah?!" The portals disappeared, as well as the dark aura.

Karna had flicked Gudako on the forehead. "Master, calm down."

Achilles stared openly at how easily Karna took care of Gudako. "What...?"

"I do believe she asked Caster-no, Shakespeare to be removed from her presence," Karna said mildly, "The trauma from her schooldays has warped her mind so badly she cannot prevent herself from attacking Shakespeare when he is in her presence." Indeed, even though Gudako had been snapped out of her temporary madness, Karna had to pin her arms down to her sides to keep her from flailing around.

"Let me go! At least let me shoot 10 of them! I need revenge for high school and for all the other kids who got traumatized by him! I almost failed school thanks to me bombing my essay on Hamlet!"

"No," Karna said firmly.

"Come onnnnnn! I'm not going to kill him! Just a little bit!"

Karna shook his head. "Master, we are leaving the room. Rider, keep Caster safe."

"Yeah, leave it to me."

Before Karna could carry off a struggling Gudako, though, Gudako had yelled out her aria. "Black Key Hell, activate!" 10 portals swiftly materialized and shot verdant Black Keys at Shakespeare.

Achilles could have intercepted them.

He didn't.

With pinpoint accuracy, the Keys buried themselves into Shakespeare's clothes (with the playwright letting out a shriek of terror) and pinned him against the wall spread-eagle, One Black Key was dangerously close to a certain place where the sun didn't shine.

Karna blinked. "Your accuracy has improved."

"I advise you get your Master out of here, Lancer," Atalanta said. "She might fire another round and I doubt Rider will help."

Achilles was too busy laughing.

"Very well. I will see you later then."

* * *

"Have you finally calmed down, Master?" Karna asked.

An hour had passed and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were set to fly in a few minutes. Achilles had popped by occasionally where Karna had stayed with Gudako to calm her down, engaging in short conversation to know her better. He trusted her pretty easily, giving out his True Name and that of Atalanta's (Gudako had to pretend to be surprised since she already knew), much to the archer's annoyance. Atalanta didn't seem to mind too much, though, and was civil to the female Master.

"I'm fine," Gudako said. "I wouldn't mind tossing another round at him, though."

"No," came Karna's immediate answer.

"Aww. Let's go outside. I want to see us setting off."

Gudako walked out to the balcony, where Achilles and Atalanta were. The two of them waved at Gudako. "Calmed down yet?" Achilles called with a grin. "I wouldn't mind helping you toss another round at the annoying playwright."

"Rider, do _not_ give her any more ideas," Atalanta said, irritated.

"Oh? Are you all gathered here? We set off now," Semiramis said as she materialized. With a snap of her fingers, the ground underneath them rumbled and the large structure shuddered, shooting up into the air.

Gudako squeaked and held on to Karna for dear life while Achilles and Atalanta stared at the view around them. When the fortress stabilized and began flying in one direction, Gudako let go of the golden Lancer and breathed out in relief. "That was scary."

"Scared of heights?" Shirou asked as he walked up next to his Servant.

"No, just the whole shaking part. Do you guys have a strategy by any chance when clashing with the Black Faction?"

"You're the one with the most information; I was wondering if you wanted to give some advice."

"Oh yeah, I didn't tell Achilles or Atalanta what I knew." Gudako turned to face the Rider and Archer. "Saber of Black is Siegfried and Karna's probably going to take him on, you can take on Archer of Black since he is your old mentor Chiron, Lancer of Black is obviously Vlad, Caster of Black is Avicebron, Rider of Black is Astolfo and I'll bet he's going to try and take down the fortress, Berserker of Black is Frankenstein, and please leave Assassin of Black alone; I've recruited her to my side. She's Jack the Ripper by the way. There's probably also going to be armies of homunculi and golems."

"So I'll get to fight Teacher, huh?" Achilles grinned.

"I'll take down the armies then. Wait, how do you know this much?" Atalanta asked.

"Would you believe me if I told you I was from the future and know what's going to happen?" Gudako asked seriously.

Taken slightly aback at the serious look on Gudako's face, Achilles glanced at Karna for confirmation.

"She is not lying," Karna affirmed. "I may as well add that she summoned me in her time and then we were both sent here. I have previous knowledge of this very Grail War but my master has already altered the timeline beyond repair. Her objective for travelling to the past remains unclear even to me."

"What happened in the end?" Achilles asked curiously. "This sounds very far-fetched but at the same time it would make sense."

"You all die," Gudako said with a shrug. "I'm trying to keep this one as bloodless as possible. Of course we probably will end up with a couple Servant deaths but if I can avoid how you guys died the first time then I'll be fine with that. Anyways, questions later. We're almost at Yggdmillenia Castle. And before you guys go, I have some gifts for you." She took out her phone and pulled out a few cards, tossing them to Achilles and Atalanta.

"What are these?" Atalanta asked, looking at the image of a determined-looking purple-haired girl. Achilles had the same one.

"Boost your overall performance in battle and probably increase the output of your Noble Phantasms. You can choose not to use them but if you do, just send a bit of prana through them. Pretty clever, right? Karna, you're keeping Volumen Hydragyrum and I'll back you up."

"Understood."

"We're here," Semiramis announced. "I suggest you set off now."

Achilles summoned his chariot with a flash of light. "I'll take first blood!"

Atalanta sighed but readied her bow.

"Karna, be careful," Gudako instructed. "I can't Gandr anyone from where I am but I can boost you."

"I will, Master." Karna dematerialized into spirit form, jumping down from the fortress as he did so.

"Nothing for me or Assassin?" Shirou asked curiously.

"Servants only," Gudako replied, glancing towards Atalanta, who was still within earshot. "As for Queen Semiramis...Battle Olympia, I guess? This might boost your spells if you want to take it."

"I shall decline," Semiramis said. "I will be fine handling my own Noble Phantasm."

"As you wish," Gudako said with a shrug. "Are we going to watch the battles?"

"Yes. Let's go to the throne room; I'll make sure Caster isn't there." Shirou went on ahead.

"Can I use him for target practice?" Gudako asked the Assassin.

"As amusing as that would be, he is useful to our cause. Do not harm him."

"Aw."

Gudako watched as Atalanta fired her Noble Phantasm and jumped to the battlefield, and then opened the telepathic link with Arthur. _Arthur, how's it going? The Red Faction just set off for battle._

 _Infiltration of Yggdmillenia Castle is going smoothly. Mordred and her Master are nearly at the battlefield._

 _Sounds good. Make sure Sieg doesn't get into any trouble and you are permitted to use Excalibur if you absolutely have to._

 _Understood._

Gudako cut off the link with the King of Knights and a wide grin stretched across her face. "The 500 quartz is _mine_."

* * *

 **Replies to reviews will be in chapter 12.**


	13. Chapter 12

The sounds of battle rang through the fields that night.

Swords clanged against spears, cutting and slashing their way through ranks of homunculi, golems, Dragon Tooth Warriors, and more. Corpses littered the ground, which ran dark with blood.

Scattered throughout the field were Servants locked in combat, their fluid movements making it look more like a dance than a fight to the death.

Karna brought his spear up, pushing against Siegfried's sword and forcing the Saber back a step. Siegfried retaliated by sending a burst of prana through his sword to blast it at Karna, but it was negated with Kavacha and Kundala.

In the forest, teacher and pupil clashed. Chiron blocked Achilles' spear thrusts and sent his student crashing to the ground.

In another section of the field, arrows rained down and sliced through limbs of homunculi. Atalanta let down a relentless rain of arrows, while nimbly avoiding the enemy's attacks.

In another area, Mordred clashed with Astolfo and Frankenstein. While it was two-on-one, her swordsmanship was still superior to that of both Black Servants, and she was easily holding her own.

In a deeper section of the forest, Jack the Ripper smiled happily as she dismembered some homunculi for their hearts, occasionally turning to the side to cut down any golems that got too close.

Karna sent a silent apology to Gudako before his right eye glowed red, activating Brahmastra. A focused beam of prana shot out and burned through Siegfried's side, who barely jumped away in time. The beam went on to incinerate a few homunculi and Dragon Tooth Warriors behind them.

"Magnificent," Siegfried said steadily, grimacing at his burned side. Despite the armour of Fafnir negating most of the damage, it still hurt. He could feel Gordes healing it already, and winced at the telepathic scolding he received along with it. "You have pierced my armour again."

"It comes at great cost to my Master, but she is able to take care of herself," Karna replied. "I am curious about one thing, though."

"What is it?" Siegfried said as he took a ready stance with his sword at the ready.

"I have not seen my counterpart yet. Where is the ruler of this land, Lancer of Black?"

Siegfried fell silent. "I have not seen him in battle."

"I see." Karna raised his spear and the two resumed clashing.

 _Sorry to cut your fight short but Vlad's intercepting Atalanta, Karnacchi. She'll have trouble with him._

 _I see. I can fight both of them at the same time, but it will consume more of your mana._

 _Oh, I'll be fine. I'm only on my second apple and Arthur's barely taking any from me. I suggest you team up with Atalanta to take down Vlad and Siegfried both, but it's your call. Don't forget to watch out for Spartacus._

 _Understood. How are you doing?_

 _I'm fine. I doubt Semiramis would try to poison me now. I may or may not have subtly threatened Amakusa with another Gandr round to keep him from trying to tell me to give up my Command Seals._

Karna cut off the connection with Gudako and leapt back to avoid a strike from Siegfried. "It appears that Lancer of Black has intercepted Archer from my master's observations."

"..."

"I foresee that we will clash again before the end of this war. I will follow my Master's orders to engage Lancer of Black in combat. I do not mind taking on both of you at the same time, but it is your choice." Karna nodded slightly and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Siegfried called.

Karna tilted his head.

"Do you know...what became of the homunculus Rider rescued?"

Karna's lips twitched up slightly. "I believe he is fine." He dematerialized swiftly, leaving Siegfried alone on the battlefield.

Siegfried sighed as he tuned out Gordes' rants about Karna's cowardice. Suddenly, he heard Astolfo's telepathic voice yell through his head.

 _Someone help me and Berserker with Saber of Red! We're getting pushed back!_

Siegfried looked around to locate the androgynous Servant, and noted flashes of red and green lightning not far from him. _I_ will _battle Karna again,_ he thought to himself. _And next time...I will not lose._

* * *

"Ah, looks like Atalanta got saved just in time," Gudako said as she watched Karna burn a wave of stakes aimed at Atalanta from the viewing screens Semiramis provided in the throne room. She casually bit into another golden apple, sighing in relief at the extra burst of mana. Karna's activation of Brahmastra earlier had almost drained her in one go as he had put most of his mana into it.

"I'm surprised you were able to tear him away from his battle with Saber of Black," Semiramis mused as she watched Mordred knock Astolfo to the ground before dodging a strike from Siegfried. "Our Saber on the other hand appears to have some trouble handling three Servants at once."

"She'll be fine," Gudako said nonchalantly. "She'll kill me for casually revealing her True Name, but I'm sure Mordred can hold her own."

"The Knight of Treachery is a girl?" Shirou asked, slightly bemused.

"So are a lot of reputed male figures like Nero Claudius, Oda Nobunaga, and Okita Souji, among others," Gudako said casually. Shirou stared at her for a few seconds, but Gudako had pulled out her phone to farm EXP and therefore ignored him. "What's up with the rogue Servant, by the way?"

"Somehow he was summoned even with the Greater Grail's restrictions and has thrown the Black Faction into a state of confusion following his capture of one of their homunculi which _you_ also sent Lancer to acquire," Shirou answered. "Why did you want him, anyways?"

"A friend of mine from the future asked me to save him. I tried," Gudako said with a helpless shrug, looking up from her phone. "I couldn't tell who the rogue Servant is, but if he trips up the Black Faction then all the better for you, right?"

"Only if he doesn't turn his blade on us," Semiramis replied. "My Master has also figured out his identity to be Arthur Pendragon, Saber's father. She may go after him if she finds out."

"Not my problem," Gudako said. Internally, she smirked. _What they don't know is that they're aware of each other's existence and that they get along perfectly fine._

Feeling a sudden drain on her prana reserves, she quickly popped another apple in her mouth and checked Karna's battle status with Vlad. The golden lancer had activated his Mana Burst of Flames to burn through the Romanian lord's stakes, which explained the prana drain. "He hasn't used Volumen Hydragyrum yet..." she muttered. "Should I switch Mystic Codes?"

"Spartacus has appeared," Shirou announced suddenly. "He's going straight for the lancers."

"Where's Ruler?" Gudako asked. "Spartacus is a massive suicide bomb if attacked too much-she's the only one with a Noble Phantasm effective enough to nullify that."

Shirou raised an eyebrow at the news but silently gestured for Semiramis to cease her aerial bombing of Jeanne's location. Semiramis complied with a slight scowl.

"Anyways-" Gudako paused as a portal opened behind her and fired a Black Key in a random direction, piercing a certain Caster's cape. Shakespeare shrieked and dematerialized. "Can we get an eye on the rogue Servant? There's no way he wouldn't have shown up to the battle."

Semiramis raised an eyebrow at Gudako's casual attack on Shakespeare. "You seem to have quite an interest in him."

"Hey, he _is_ the legendary King Arthur. Can't blame me."

A screen showed up to see Arthur and Sieg leading a crowd of homunculi out of Yggdmillenia castle. Shirou's eyebrows rose higher. "Are they rescuing...the homunculi?"

"Don't the Masters of the Black Faction rely on the homunculi for mana batteries?" Gudako asked.

"So they were going against the Black Faction. The fact that the stray homunculus is leading around the Servant means that whoever the rogue Master is, he must be using it as a proxy Master."

"It'd be nice if I could get the homunculus back for my friend..." Gudako mumbled, then shrugged.

After all, everything was going perfectly according to her plan.

* * *

"OPPRESSORS!" Spartacus shrieked as he attacked Karna and Atalanta. "YOU WILL PAY!"

"...Tch!" Atalanta jumped back as the berserker's fist slammed down on the place where she had been standing just seconds ago. A little distance away from her was Karna, who was busy dodging Vlad's spikes.

It had turned into a three-way fight. Spartacus was unable to differentiate between friend or foe and attacked both Vlad and the Red Servants. Vlad would distract Karna with a wave of stakes before impaling Spartacus' limbs to immobilize him, before summoning another wave of stakes to block Atalanta's arrows. Karna, backed by Atalanta, would keep a few stakes from impaling her before slicing off one of Spartacus' flailing arms.

"This is getting nowhere," Atalanta muttered.

It also didn't help that Spartacus appeared to be mutating. New limbs and other appendages grew out of wounds, and soon the berserker was a deformed mass of flesh and eyeballs. She shot a few more arrows before jumping back to land on a boulder. readying her Noble Phantasm.

"Interesting to see what kind of Master summoned such a berserker as so," Vlad commented casually as he clashed spears with Karna.

Karna blinked back impassively, striking again and forcing Vlad to turn away from Atalanta. "I would not know."

Vlad stepped back slightly. "You are interesting, Lancer of Red. My stakes were even unable to pierce you from inside."

"I have my Master to thank for that," Karna said.

Vlad _had_ tried to impale Karna from inside. Instead of piercing through the Indian hero's body, though, they had been forced outside his body and broken into splinters. That was due to Karna activating Volumen Hydragyrum at the last second, giving him temporary invincibility to all of Vlad's attacks.

They resumed their clash, but then they heard Atalanta's voice call out.

"Phoebus Catastrophe!"

A rain of arrows pelted the ground they were standing in. Karna's flames burned any arrow that got close, while Vlad protected himself with a wall of stakes. The majority of the arrows were aimed at Spartacus, though, and tore through the berserker's body.

As the assault subsided, Karna and Vlad watched as Spartacus' body only mutated even more.

"Oh, this is good pain! I will crush all the oppressors!"

"Oi, what's that eyesore?!"

Karna turned his head to see Mordred, Siegfried, Astolfo, and Frankenstein staring at the deformed mass of flesh. The battle between the two lancers had apparently pushed them to where the two sabers had been clashing.

"That is Berserker of Red," Atalanta informed them casually.

"What an ugly meat balloon," Mordred muttered.

Spartacus chose that moment to swing a fist down at Mordred, but she easily cleaved through his body. "Get out of the way, ugly! You interrupted the best fight I've had in a while!"

Vlad glanced at Astolfo. "You were pushed back even with Berserker's _and_ Saber's help?"

Astolfo smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Well...we were almost close to overwhelming her?"

"Uuu..." Frankenstein mumbled.

Siegfried said nothing and exchanged glances with Karna.

Mordred's irritated voice interrupted their confrontation. "I don't care if you guys all take me on later, just get rid of this eyesore first! I can't fight you guys without it interfering and I think it's going to blow up!"

True to her words, everyone could see Spartacus' body beginning to pulse.

"His Noble Phantasm...and we're close to the city as well!" Atalanta said.

Vlad gritted his teeth but turned to Karna. "I propose a temporary truce until we find a way to destroy this volatile Servant without harming any civilians."

"Noble words, king of this land. I will accept. But how do we destroy him?"

"We need a Servant with a defensive Noble Phantasm or maybe another Noble Phantasm with an equally destructive Noble Phantasm to cancel it out..." Mordred suggested.

"What's going on here?!" Two new voices said at the same time. Sieg and Jeanne then proceeded to stare at each other, as they had arrived at the same time.

"Oh, Ruler and...the stray homunculus," Vlad commented. "Brave of you to come back."

Arthur materialized in front of Sieg, Excalibur out. "Harm the homunculus and I will attack," he warned.

"Oh?"

"I came here to rescue Rider," Sieg stated simply. Astolfo looked torn between being happy that Sieg was alive and well and scared for his safety.

"I came to mediate the battle...but what's going on?" Jeanne asked.

"Long story short, he's about to blow up," Mordred said, waving a hand towards Spartacus. "Any way to nullify the blast?"

"I can probably shield the homunculus with my Noble Phantasm, but that won't completely nullify the damage," Jeanne said. "The rest of you, please go into spiritual form if you are able."

Arthur tilted his head as if receiving a telepathic message, and stepped forward. "My Master has informed me to use my Noble Phantasm against Berserker of Red. Do not worry about protecting me." _Master Gudako was wise to have me keep Volumen Hydragyrum._

"Excalibur...the Sword of Promised Victory. Show me you are worthy of your title then, King of Knights," Vlad stated.

"Then it's settled!" Mordred said. "I want to battle Father after this, so you scrubs better find another opponent!"

"Wait...father? You're Mordred?!" Astolfo said in surprise. "But that means the Knight of Treachery's actually a girl-"

Mordred casually pointed her sword at him. "Call me that and I'll kill you before battling Father. Got it?"

"Enough talk. He will explode soon."

"Everyone, get behind me!"

All the Servants save Vlad and Astolfo dematerialized. The two remaining Servants stepped behind Jeanne, Astolfo standing in front of Sieg protectively.

Jeanne stepped forward with Arthur at her side. The two exchanged glances. "I want to know what is going on after this," the Ruler said.

"You may not get all your answers," Arthur answered. He turned to Spartacus' pulsing form and released Invisible Air's sheath. Excalibur glowed golden in the dark night, illuminating the battlefield. "Seal Thirteen, decision start!"

 _The enemy must be more powerful than oneself._

 _The battle must be one-on-one._

 _The enemy must not be an elemental._

 _The battle must not involve personal gain._

 _The battle must not be inhumane._

 _The battle must be to live._

 _Bedivere, Palamedes, Lancelot, Galahad, Gaheris, Kay...thank you. With six seals broken, that is more than enough power._

Just before he swung, Arthur felt a rush of extra mana. Gudako had activated an attack up boost on him. _Thank you, Master Gudako._

"EX...CALIBUR!"

Arthur swung his sword and a wave of immense golden light rushed towards Spartacus just as his body began to explode, and swallowed him up. Behind him, Jeanne chanted the aria for her own Noble Phantasm.

 _"My flag, defend our brethren! Luminosité Eternelle!"_

The entire battlefield was engulfed in light.

 **Pink Dragon: Hope I lived up to your expectations.**

 **Stratos263: She's doing fine.**

 **Calamari Inkantation: Since I'm about 3 months late, I'm not sure if you've already found a way, but you can download FGO JP through QooApp. Simple and easy.**

 **God of Stars: Sorry, my friend list is pretty full with active players…maybe another time.**

 **Iheartlife888: Lucky you, you got my favourite edgelord T_T Hope you're satisfied with Shakespeare's…ah…treatment.**

 **Guest: *pats pats* Jalter has more banners, just save for her then. She'll come eventually.**

 **Suzululu4moe: I completely and wholeheartedly agree.**

 **YuukiAsuna-Chan: It's all part of my plan, my dear. (Totally not ripping off Sherlock at this point.)**

 **bootlegwat: No reveals.**

 **piddle: I forgot when the JP Apocrypha event was but hope you're happy with their designs!**

 **King of Fans: You don't want to know what Gudako does with Gilles and Blackbeard. You don't.**

 **OneWhoCharms: Let me just say I had to google who Kenneth Branagh was. *escapes* But anyways, thanks for your humour and kind words!**

 **Fateaid: Sorry, no romance. Perhaps another story. This story is meant to have ambiguous relationships.**

 **yuukikya: I may have to admit I spend on guaranteed gachas. It's never too late to play JP unless you're concerned about event servants, but it's your call. JP's really fun! Have fun with Karna and Jalter!**


	14. Chapter 13

**Yay, another August update! Updates may come slower in the following months due to school, just saying. Event grinding is actually so much hell. I'm glad I finished JP's Servant Summer Festival (and summoned Dantes!) and got all the rewards a week before it ended, so now I can grind NA's Prisma Illya event without having to worry over JP. How's the JP event going for you guys? Did you roll the summer queen, get our favourite Foreigner or summon the broken BB-chan? Or, are you ready to roll our favourite magical girl in NA?**

 **NOTE: This chapter's darker than any of the other ones. If you're not used to dark!Gudako, I advise you to skip down to the final section of this chapter. You won't be missing too much. You have been warned. Again, review replies are at the end.**

While the Servants were busy fending off Spartacus, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon had flown silently into Yggdmillenia ground undetected. Now, it hovered right above a certain area of the castle.

Gudako, Semiramis, and Amakusa stood in a large, empty chamber on the lowest level of the Gardens. Semiramis gestured and magic circles appeared before her. "You may want to hold onto something, girl," Semiramis commented. "I doubt humans would be able to withstand the pressure from this spell."

"Got it," Gudako replied as she reinforced her limbs and grabbed onto one of the support pillars.

With another gesture, a square in the ground opened up. Below, Gudako could see the faint glowing of the Greater Grail, and shivered as she felt its aura of power.

Shirou watched the proceeds go with feverish desire in his eyes. "Soon...soon, the Greater Grail will be ours," he murmured.

Gudako looked with mild concern at the Ruler-class Servant that was a friend back in Chaldea. She had heard stories about his wish and desires from other Servants, but witnessing him like this unnerved her slightly. _I think I'll have to summon Edmond or Jeanne Alter here to keep him occupied, mana consumption be damned. Even Jeanne's La Pucelle couldn't stop his Noble Phantasm. Let's see here...Edmond's Mana rank is lower than Jeanne Alter's, so I guess I'll summon him when I can. Or hell, how about both of them? Edmond to distract Amakusa and Jeanne Alter to confuse the hell out of Jeanne. I'll just have to eat like 5 apples._

Gudako snapped out of her thoughts as she felt mana fill the air. A powerful spell had broken through the Yggdmillenia Castle to capture the Greater Grail, pulling it upwards from its confines within the castle. She watched as the Greater Grail floated into the chamber that was prepared for it, keeping a firm hold on the pillars. The wind howled fiercely around her as the hole slowly closed up.

And suddenly, it was silent.

The Greater Grail sat silently, pulsing softly with golden light and illuminating the dark room. Amakusa and Semiramis stared at the construct in silent awe. "This is...the Greater Grail..." The Ruler-class Servant breathed.

Gudako also stared at the Greater Grail in confusion, because it _really_ didn't look like a Grail to her. "It's not a cup?" She asked out loud.

"No," Amakusa replied, having repressed his awe. "The Greater Grail was never meant to be one. It's more like a core than anything else."

"Oh."

Semiramis turned around sharply as screens materialized in front of her. "We seem to have uninvited guests approaching. We must take care of them first."

Amakusa nodded in understanding, and Gudako reached out to Karna.

 _Karnacchi, get back here! They have the Greater Grail!_

 _Understood._

 _Arthur, stay with Sieg and keep an eye on Astolfo and Siegfried! I'll call you here with a Command Seal!_

 _Understood, Master Gudako._

Gudako followed Semiramis and Amakusa as they made their way out of the chambers and into the chapel via a secret passageway Semiramis opened in the wall to avoid any Servants.

"Now what do I do?" Gudako complained. "I don't want to hide in here. Not while you guys steal the other Masters' Command Seals."

"You're not going to attempt to stop that?" Amakusa asked.

"As if I could stop you. What's the situation, Queen Semiramis?"

"Rider and Archer are intercepting Lancer of Black, Caster of Black and Archer of Black. Lancer is behind them," Semiramis observed casually. "What shall we do?"

"What happened in this fight?" Amakusa asked.

"Darnic uses his Command Seals to force Vlad to invoke his Noble Phantasm...eh, I forgot the name but he turns into a legit Dead Apostle, and then fuses their souls together. Creepy. Oh, wait, I think I can prevent that! Gotta go bye!" Gudako rushed off before Amakusa or Semiramis could stop her.

The Master and Servant stared at her retreating form. "Whose side was she on again?"

* * *

The Black Servants had just begun their fight with the Red Servants in the hallways of the Gardens.

Vlad, his power weakened, struggled to keep up with Karna's strikes. Chiron and Achilles clashed viciously, neither of them refusing to give an inch. Atalanta's arrows took down golems and homunculi each, some of them also aimed at Avicebron, who shielded himself with more golems.

At first, it looked even.

But slowly, surely, the Red Servants were winning. It was their home turf, after all.

"Why am I weakened here..." Vlad growled as he blocked an attack from Karna.

"You are no longer on Romanian soil. Have your subjects abandoned you, lord of the land?" Karna asked.

A human voice, amplified with magecraft, cut through the fighting. "The Black Faction will not be able to win here."

Vlad turned in surprise. "Darnic?"

Chiron and Avicebron turned as well to see Darnic on a balcony overlooking the hall.

"How did he get here?" Achilles muttered.

"Truly, the Black Faction is weakened here...unless you use _that_ Noble Phantasm, Lancer," Darnic said steadily.

Karna watched as Vlad stiffened. " _What_ did you just say to me, Darnic?" He growled.

"Do not make me repeat myself. I am ordering you to release your Noble Phantasm, Legend of Dracula."

"And I said I would never release that Noble Phantasm!" Vlad snarled.

"Know your place, you mere familiar!" Darnic snapped, his voice growing louder with hysteria. "I did not summon you for nothing! I summoned you so you would win the Grail for me! A Servant must obey what his Master wishes! Now, Lancer..."

"DARNIC!" Vlad's voice held a hint of panic.

"With my Command Seal, I command you to-"

"Oh no you don't! _Gandr!_ "

All the Servants blinked as Darnic seized up and fell from the balcony, seemingly paralyzed. The force knocked the Yggdmillenia clan unconscious, but the Servants were more focused on the orange-haired girl that ran up to them, out of breath.

"Master, what are you doing here?!" Karna asked.

"Obviously to save Vlad!"

Vlad stared in shock as Gudako pulled out some chains from nowhere and began tying up Darnic. "Girl, what did you just do?"

"I anticipated Darnic would make you use the Noble Phantasm you hated and decided to knock him out. You deserve a fight retaining your own sense of self, not someone else's, Vlad III."

"But he's the enemy...?" Achilles asked uncertainly.

"Believe me, none of you are able to kill a Dead Apostle. Unless you're a saint. Besides, Darnic's wrong. Servants aren't familiars. They have their own selves, their own feelings, and their own wishes. Trampling over all that just for the Master's desire is wrong. That's why I don't care whoever the Servant is. Whether they're an enemy or not, if their Master is being a jerk, I'll do my best to help them out, since they deserve better than that."

Chiron clapped. "Wise words."

Vlad watched silently as Gudako used some Black Keys to pin Darnic to the wall, and spoke. "I owe you my gratitude, Lancer of Red's Master. I had observed you in earlier battles and thought you as a worthy Master, but I now see that you are also a considerate mage."

"Ehehe, no need to praise me. I just like helping out Servants."

Karna sighed faintly, but Achilles heard and gave the lancer a sympathetic look.

Darnic blinked awake, and his eyes settled on Gudako and a normal-looking Vlad. "Girl..." he growled. "Untie me."

"Nope~" Gudako sang, a sudden dark aura rising off her. "Oh, and please don't talk or use your Command Seals or else I might decapitate you with the same spell I used on Gordes~" As if to prove her point, a few portals opened up behind her, Black Keys poking out.

This time even Avicebron and Chiron stared in surprise at Gudako's sudden change in mood.

Karna could only shake his head. "She had a grudge against him as well...it was my error in forgetting that."

Darnic only smiled grimly as his Command Seals flashed, a silent order in his mind.

"No you don't," Gudako said stonily as a Black Key impaled Darnic's hand. Blood gushed out, and Darnic howled in pain. "I don't like hurting people but you're one of the most heartless magi I've ever heard of." Three more portals flashed, Black Keys now impaled into Darnic's other hand and legs. "One more word or thought out of you and the next one goes through your throat."

Darnic laughed, staring into Gudako's eyes. "You won't be able to. You've never killed a human before, have you, girl?"

"I won't know until I try," Gudako breathed. A Black Key aimed itself at Darnic's throat, but it was trembling wildly, as if mirroring her uncertainty.

Darnic began laughing. "See? You can't do it, girl. I don't know how you were able to defeat Gordes with a simple mind like that, but you don't have the ability or the mindset to kill me here."

The Black Key shook wildly in its portal as Gudako continued to stare down Darnic. A drop of sweat could be seen rolling down her neck as she breathed out slowly. Karna attempted to make a move but hesitated when he saw the concentration on Gudako's face.

Jeanne, who had just arrived at the scene, stared in shock at the scene in front of her, but Chiron locked eyes with her and shook his head, silently asking her to refrain from interfering.

"Enough, girl." Vlad's voice cut through the stare-off. "You have proven your courage to me. I will repay the debt I owe you now for saving me. This is now a Black Faction problem. I will deal with him myself." He raised a hand, and Darnic's body was flung into the air momentarily as a stake shot through his chest.

Gudako flinched as blood spattered onto her uniform, and stepped back. Karna immediately materialized at her side to support her. "Master!"

"I haven't killed him yet," Vlad said coolly as everyone stared Darnic's prone form. "I might, though, but I would lose my chance at the Grail. However, for the sake of your Master, Lancer of Red, I will order the Black Faction to withdraw here. We are weakened here on your territory and you have the Greater Grail in your grasp." He paused as Achilles and Atalanta suddenly grasped their chests and fell to their knees. "Hm?"

"Our...Masters..." Atalanta gasped.

"What happened?" Jeanne asked.

"Our Masters...something happened to them..."

Semiramis' amplified voice echoed through the hallways. _"My Master and I request that everyone, friend or foe, gather in the chapel. We have an ultimatum for all Servants."_

"They did it," Gudako mumbled, still in a daze over what happened with Darnic. "Amakusa Shirou Tokisada...he took the Red Masters' Command Seals..."

"He did what now?!" Achilles and Atalanta swiftly dematerialized.

"What did you say?!" Jeanne ran up to Gudako. "What do you mean by Amakusa Shirou Tokisada?!"

"Ruler, my Master isn't in the best mental condition to answer questions-"

"Karnacchi, I may be in shock, but this is more important." Gudako used Karna as a support to stand up on shaking legs, but looked Jeanne in the eye. "Kotomine Shirou's true identity is the Ruler-class Servant from the Third Holy Grail War 60 years ago, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada. He wanted the Greater Grail to make his wish of saving humanity become reality. He's the one manipulating the Red Servants and their Masters. We have to stop him or else he'll rewrite the entirety of human history."

"H-how do you know all that?"

"Enough questions; if you want to stop him we have to go now!" With a silent command, Karna picked up Gudako bride style and disappeared down a hallway.

Ruler turned to the Black Servants. "I want a temporary truce while we figure out what happened to the Red Faction. Will you accept it?"

"We will," Vlad replied as he motioned for Avicebron, Chiron and the homunculi to follow him.

The Black Servants and Ruler went deeper into the fortress.

* * *

At Yggdmillenia Castle, Fiore and the other Masters were slowly coming to terms that their most prized possession was now gone.

"The Greater Grail was stolen by the Red Faction while we were preoccupied with the battle...smart bastards...!" Gordes growled as he punched a wall.

"Uncle Gordes, I know how you feel, but please refrain from damaging more of the castle." Fiore tried to soothe the older mage, but her voice was tight with worry. Caules could only stand back as he watched his sister try and reason with the enraged Musik, silently checking on Frankenstein's condition via their mental link.

Gordes growled. "On top of that, that stray homunculus has the gall to return and free the rest of them! How are we supposed to continue our battle after this?!"

On another side of the castle, Roche sighed mournfully as he gazed at all the destroyed golems. "Teacher's golems were no good against Servants...but that's what we anticipated, though. Alright, I'll go make more for him when he gets back! We'll need to replenish our numbers as fast as possible!"

Finally, on the outer field, a _very_ angry Celenike was confronting Astolfo. Sieg could only watch on as Arthur hovered close to him, wary eyes on Celenike and Siegfried. For his credit, Siegfried seemed more cautious of Celenike than Arthur, and was slowly retreating to where Frankenstein was watching the exchange curiously. Surprisingly, he hadn't been ordered to accompany Vlad to the Hanging Gardens, but instead told to keep guard on what was left of the castle with Frankenstein and Astolfo. He hadn't minded the order, but deep down wished he could have clashed with Karna again.

The two Sabers snapped out of their thoughts as Celenike raised her hand, a command seal flashing as it was used. "Rider, I command you to kill this homunculus!"

"Master, please!" Astolfo cried, struggling against the order. "Don't kill him!"

"Good; there's the face I wanted to see! All twisted up with despair!" Celenike shrieked, her eyes wide and crazed.

Astolfo's large lance materialized as he swung it at Sieg, but Arthur blocked and knocked the Rider back. "Saber of Black, get him away from here!"

Siegfried nodded and pushed Sieg behind him.

Celenike tched and another command seal glowed. "I order you once again. Kill that homunculus, Rider!"

"Master, please!"

Boosted by two command seals, Astolfo still wasn't able to compare against Arthur's skill and instincts, and was being pushed back.

Sieg clenched his fists. "Can't we do anything to help?" He asked Siegfried.

Siegfried shook his head. He kept Balmung at the ready in case Celenike decided to approach Sieg herself, but she seemed to prefer watching Astolfo fight Arthur. "The easiest way to solve this would be to kill Celenike, but that would sever Rider's connection with the world. The other way would be to kill Rider, but..."

"He saved me. I don't want him to die."

"Uuu...?" Frankenstein pointed at Sieg.

"What is it, Berserker?" Siegfried asked.

"Ha...nd..." Frankenstein pointed at Sieg's hand.

"Are you asking if I could contract with Astolfo?"

"Uuu!" Frankenstein nodded.

"I would, but I don't have Command Seals..."

"I am curious, though...your Saber considered to be a rogue Servant to us in the Black Faction. If he rescued you, then who is his Master...?"

"The same one who diverted Arthur's mana consumption to me. His Master has the command seals and can contract with Astolfo, but I doubt they would be able to at this moment." Sieg spoke carefully, making sure not to reveal Gudako's identity to Siegfried. While he really did want to trust Siegfried with the information, now was not the time.

"Your rescuer seems to be a skilled magus. What did they want with you?"

"I wouldn't know the full reason why...but you may be able to ask them later."

For now, the homunculus and two Servants could only watch as two other Servants fought with their all.

 **Alright, from what we've seen in the FGO movies and the game itself, we (the Master) were constantly ordered to never kill any human enemies. Mashu is constantly ordered to use her shield to just incapacitate human enemies. Monsters are a whole different thing and I'd say Darnic's a monster, but he still technically looks like a human. For a Master who's never killed before but has seen bloodshed in singularities, Gudako would struggle with taking Darnic's life, no matter how evil he is.**

 **Stratos263: Gudako's hate for Shakespeare was mainly for comedy purposes and for her to show off her Black Key abilities. Hehe. I also may have combined some of her personality with mine.**

 **KyonSmith13: I genuinely enjoyed some of Shakespeare's plays, but the way my teacher taught them and then me bombing the stuff I wrote on said plays…well, let's just say if I was in Gudako's place, I'd be shooting more Black Keys at him.**

 **King of Fans: Darnic got the Black Key treatment. Celenike probably won't. And…ahaha, summer. Well. I actually don't really like the summer servants (the costumes for the boys in JP was really all I wanted), but it's Gudako. She wants literally every Servant. Rip her quartz.**

 **makopaulo: Wait, they aren't? And wait, where did I put that? I went over my earlier chapters and I don't remember doing something like that? And yeah, the Fate fandom definitely needs more Gudako fics. I don't know where revdb's gone off to, but I'm definitely bringing in more Gudako content once this story's done.**

 **Stratos263: Berserkers** _ **are**_ **quite destructive. Spartacus even more so, but who knows, I may have made him more destructive so I could write more Arthur.**

 **piddle: Sigurd! I rolled him in my main account and he's awesome!**

 **Guest: I hope you enjoyed how Darnic got treated this chapter then? And wait when was Sieg obsessed with ninjas? Did I forget something?**

 **vetyking14: Sorry about being late. School was a killer. At least I'm updating now?**

 **Illusionoflove: Thanks! Stay tuned for the next chapter, you may get what you want ;)**

 **giuseppe: Yeah, I know. I play JP. However, I started this story long before the Apocrypha event, so I had no idea back then.**

 **King of Fans: That's basically Gudako's plan. She doesn't really think things through and just wants all the Servants to come out alive and happy. The ones she likes, though. I'll leave how Gudako treats certain Servants up to your imagination~~ Congrats on getting the summer servants by the way! I'm saving for our resident game breaker and buster meme Caster so I only did a few rolls and got Marie. Hope you do well in the next few events!**

 **T-B-R: YES.**

 **Fateaid: Aww I missed you too. Thanks for your kind words 3 And yeah, Shakespeare deserves everything that happened to him so far. Heh.**

 **Suzululu4moe: Strange how I like Gudako's art and don't really like Shirou's (although EMIYA is quite hot). Genderbending for the win I guess. Especially since Type-Moon genderbends so many Servants.**

 **Alewar Warinot: Thanks for your support during the summer event? Your Jalter was a great help. Glad to see you're using my Waver! I'm taking a lot of scenes from Apocrypha, so I'd recommend you watch it to clarify some points, but it's your choice. Sieg liberating the homunculi is a scene from the anime, as he wants his fellow homunculi to also live their lives free from just being mana batteries for the Black Faction.**

 **: What can I say, Gudako's one of those Masters who never saves (like me lol) so 1000 quartz really does sound like a lot to her. Thanks for your comment and hope you do well on the FGO events as well!**


	15. Chapter 14

**Less than one month into a new school year and I'm stressed out as hell. How was Nerofest for you guys (or GilFest/Battle in New York for JP players)? Hope you got what you wanted and prepare yourselves for the Halloween events!**

 **Replies to reviews are at the end of the chapter.**

The Black Faction and Jeanne arrived at the chapel to witness a stare-off between Gudako, Karna, Semiramis, Amakusa, Achilles, and Atalanta.

To be precise, it wasn't really a stare-off. Semiramis wasn't staring, but instead glaring at Gudako, who had a disturbing expression on her face. It was caught between a grimace and a smirk, with some regret mixed in. Karna was glancing worriedly at his Master, while Achilles and Atalanta were glaring daggers at Amakusa.

Semiramis spoke first, directing her question at Gudako. "You meant to betray us all along, didn't you, girl? You've helped out the Black Faction far too many times to call you a loyal Master to the Red Faction."

"Oh? What makes you think that?" Gudako replied in a steady tone. She was still holding onto Karna for support, but she stood tall, fearlessly staring back at the Assyrian queen.

"Answer me, girl."

"Who said I was on your side in the first place? I play for one side and that's my side. Our goals happened to coincide so I got you to help me out. I told you I was from the future, wasn't I? Amakusa Shirou Tokisada's wish will bring humanity to ruin, and as a Master who works for the preservation of humanity, I will not let that stand."

"Preservation of humanity...?" Jeanne breathed.

"Assassin, you can eliminate her later," Amakusa said, a pleasant smile on his face as if he was talking about the weather. "As we had said earlier, we had an ultimatum for the Servants on this Greater Holy Grail War. We have control of the Greater Grail. I address the Black Faction here: surrender."

Vlad laughed, a dangerous edge to his voice. "You think we would give up so easily? There is no clear advantage that I can see surrendering to you."

"Oh? Brave words from one who is trapped in a belly's beast," Semiramis commented casually.

"Let's hope it doesn't turn out to be a boulder in its stomach," Chiron retorted.

"Avicebron, let's hear your opinion," Amakusa said.

"How about no," Gudako cut in, Black Key portals materializing around her. "Solomon ibn Gabirol, Master of Golems, your wish is to complete your Noble Phantasm, Golem Keter Malkuth. To do so, you will betray the Black Faction and contract with the Red Faction, and betray your own Master by sacrificing him to be the golem's core. You don't need the Holy Grail for your wish at all."

"You know too much, girl," Avicebron replied after a few moments of stunned silence.

"I'll admit this war hasn't been going the way I wanted, but if you die here then one of my headaches will be over."

"Caster, do you really dare to betray us?" Vlad inquired, his voice low and angry.

"I will work for whichever faction will help me achieve my wish."

"Then fall," Vlad spoke simply. His actions spoke louder though, as multiple stakes shot up and impaled Avicebron's body where he stood. One stake, in particular, had gone through his heart to shatter his Spirit Core, and Avicebron fell to his knees, blood pouring out of his wounds even as he began fading.

"So this...is...my end..." Avicebron choked out as he faded. "Let humanity...fall..." He disappeared.

In the silence that followed, Gudako closed her portals. "Well, one Servant down." Her voice was detached and hollow. "What do you want now, Amakusa?"

"My earlier wish remains. Surrender or die here."

"I'd rather not surrender or die her, thank you very much. Not when your wish is the subjugation of humanity under the guise of salvation."

"Oya, it looks like my wishes have been revealed to you all," Amakusa said without any shock in his tone. "I have been waiting 60 years for this moment-I cannot die here. Do you really think you can defeat us all here in our own territory?"

"Of course not, but if you'd let me say something-"

"Denied," Semiramis hissed poisonously.

"You didn't let me finish," Gudako said petulantly, crossing her arms. " _I have the power to end you right here and right now, even without the Black Faction's power."_

"What?" Achilles asked in surprise.

"Here's what I'm seeing right here, right now. On Amakusa Shirou Tokisada's side, we have a Ruler-class Servant, an Assassin-class Servant who controls this entire territory, and a Rider and Archer both with great power thanks to their lore and under Amakusa's control thanks to him taking their Masters' Command Seals. On the Black Faction's side, there's a Lancer-class Servant with authority over the land, and an Archer-class Servant with high Divinity and strength. There's another Ruler with no affiliation to any faction. And then, there's my side, and I'll temporarily ally myself with the Black Faction for now. I have a Lancer-class Servant with great conceptual lore. However, I do have a trump card." A wide grin stretched across her face as she held up her hand, Command Seals flashing. _"By the power of my Command Seal, I order you. Arthur Pendragon, King of Knights, come to my side."_

In a flash of red light, Arthur appeared at Gudako's side, Excalibur unsheathed yet still hidden behind Invisible Air. "Master."

Everyone besides Karna gaped.

"Wait, wait, _you're_ the rogue Master?!" Achilles exclaimed.

"You-how are you able to contract to two Servants?!" Jeanne cried. "The Greater Grail would not have allowed this!"

"Yeah, that's the problem: Arthur and Karna here weren't summoned by the Grail. I summoned them into this plane of the Kaleidoscope via the contracts I have with them in my world." And Gudako grinned wider, showing off her remaining Command Seal. "I did a little bit of research and turns out I can summon any Servant I'm contracted to back in my own world with _just one Command Seal_. I have over 100 Servants contracted to me-some who would love a fight. Would you like me to summon Gilgamesh here, perhaps? Or maybe a goddess like Ishtar or Quetzalcoatl? Or maybe a Grand Servant like the First Hassan? And by the way, my Command Seals replenish themselves and my contracts don't break even if I use them all, so I can summon _as many_ _as I want. Right here, and right now._ I can easily call them here to kill you and wreck this place. Shall I demonstrate for you?"

"All the better to kill you now, girl," Semiramis hissed, chains shooting at Gudako. They were deflected immediately by Karna and Arthur before they even got within a few metres of her, and were destroyed by blasts of wind and fire.

Semiramis gritted her teeth, glancing at Amakusa for orders. Achilles and Atalanta continued to stare at Gudako silently, something akin to respect in Achilles' expression and shock in Atalanta's.

Gudako slowly raised up her hand. "By the power of my Command Seals, I order-"

"Enough," Amakusa interrupted. "I will allow you to retreat here. But bear this in mind-do you really think you will be able to win the war when we have the Greater Grail no matter how many Servants you summon?"

"When there's a will, there's a way. And to quote Murphy's Law: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." With that, Gudako calmly walked out the door with Karna and Arthur trailing behind her, but everyone could hear an explosion after a few seconds, indicating that she had blasted her way out.

"Lancer, what should we do?" Chiron asked.

"We have no choice but to withdraw here. Will you come with us, Ruler?" Vlad asked.

"It seems I have no choice since the rules for this war appear to have been completely overturned," Jeanne said with a sigh. She turned to Amakusa. "Know this, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada-I swear by my flag that I will not let your wish come to fruition."

The three Servants rushed out of the room, leaving behind a contemplative Amakusa and seething Semiramis. Achilles and Atalanta faded into spirit form to leave the two be.

* * *

Arthur had switched roles with Karna. He was now the one carrying Gudako bride-style as he and the Indian lancer flew through the air, heading towards Yggdmillenia Castle. In his arms, Gudako stared ahead almost blankly, and Arthur sent a mental question towards Karna. _What happened?_

 _She threatened and almost killed Darnic Prestone Yggdmillenia._

Arthur winced. Back at Chaldea, almost all the Servants shared the idea that their Master shouldn't be the one to shed any blood. Sure, Gudako often threatened Shakespeare or Blackbeard with her Black Keys, but she had never once injured them. When interacting with humans in singularities, she hadn't lifted a single finger to harm any of them and just told the less scrupulous Servants to dispose of them quietly if they were a genuine threat to her life.

 _Will she be alright?_

 _I don't know. How were things on your end?_

 _Astolfo was ordered by his Master to kill Sieg, but I intervened and Siegfried kept him safe. I held off Astolfo but was then called here, so I'm hoping Siegfried and Frankenstein are able to hold Astolfo off. They had the idea of killing Celenike and getting Astolfo to contract to Gudako, but obviously, she was in the Hanging Gardens and could not do so._

 _Let us head towards them then. We can talk with the rest of the Black Faction later._

Arthur nodded and with a very small Mana Burst, he changed course to where he had originally been on the battlefield. From his height, he could see Astolfo and Siegfried clashing, with Sieg not far behind at Frankenstein's side. Celenike hadn't approached Sieg.

Gudako spoke up then, her voice sounding normal. "Arthur, is Celenike still alive?"

"She was just before you called me," Arthur said cautiously.

"Sieg's obviously going to want to rescue Astolfo from the creepy woman. I'll contract with him and redirect the mana consumption to Sieg."

"Alright."

They landed right beside Sieg and Frankenstein. Gudako held her hand out to Sieg. "Glad to see you're still alive. I'm guessing you want to rescue Astolfo. Give me the Book of the False Attendant; I'll handle the rest."

Sieg handed the book over, surprise written in his features.

"Now then...I believe there's an extra guest here. Jackie, there's someone for you to kill," Gudako called.

A young girl's laughter was heard in the wind, and Jack materialized in her battle attire. "Onee-chan! How did you notice we were here?"

Gudako smiled and rubbed the young girl's head, causing Jack to giggle. "I had a feeling. See that creepy lady over there?"

Celenike didn't even seem to be paying attention to them anymore, instead relishing the desperate fight Astolfo was putting up. For his credit, Siegfried was holding back, trying to draw Astolfo away from Sieg and Frankenstein.

"She looks scary," Jack whispered.

"She is," Gudako said. "If you take her out, that's one less creepy Master we'll have to deal with."

"Okay, we'll kill her!"

Jack disappeared, Presence Concealment activated.

Celenike was laughing maniacally as the tired Astolfo begged her to stop, but then he and Siegfried stopped clashing as a pair of knives swiftly dismembered the woman. Jack reappeared, her knives dripping blood. "The creepy lady's gone!" She cheered.

Astolfo dropped to his knees, and Sieg rushed over to him. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"Y-yeah...but...it looks like this is where my part ends...in the very least, I'm glad I got to rescue you." Astolfo smiled, but his eyes were bright with tears as he began fading into motes of prana.

"Then would you take a second chance if you had it?" Gudako asked, walking up to him. Siegfried gave Gudako a wary glance but didn't move.

"Yes! Wait, who are you?"

"I rescued Sieg over here; you can trust me."

Astolfo looked to Sieg for confirmation and was met with a nod. "What do I need to do?"

"Hold my hand; I'll handle the rest. Sieg, you're fine with maintaining his prana supply, right? I'll give you some apples later." Gudako grasped Astolfo's outstretched hand and dropped 3 quartz she had taken out earlier onto the pages of the Book of the False Attendant, her Command Seals glowing brightly to complete the contract. After a few seconds, the glow subsided and Astolfo's body stopped dematerializing, the Rider now back in the world.

"Thank you so much!" Astolfo cried, shaking Gudako's hand enthusiastically.

"No problem," she replied as she tossed the book back at Sieg. "We should get to Yggdmillenia Castle; there's some stuff we have to settle." Gudako turned to Jack and ruffled her hair. "Good work, Jackie. Why don't you go back to your mommy? I'll visit you soon."

"Okay! Thanks, onee-chan!" Jack dematerialized.

Gudako sighed as Jack disappeared, reaching out to latch onto Karna's arm for support. "I'm tired."

"I understand, Master, but we still have to talk with Vlad."

"I just want to sleep," Gudako whined. Remembering that Siegfried and Frankenstein hadn't said a single word upon her arrival, she waved to them. "Thanks for taking care of Sieg. Long story short; the Red Faction's broken apart so I'm allying myself with you guys. Vlad and Chiron should be back at the castle with Jeanne, so we should go there and discuss what's going to happen."

"You were the supposed rogue Master after all?" Siegfried asked.

"Yeah. I wanted to trip you guys up a bit, but I guess the cat's out of the bag. I probably shouldn't have saved Vlad if I wanted to maintain my secrecy a bit longer, but I couldn't resist. Oh well. I'll tell you guys everything at the castle. Deal?"

Siegfried nodded. "Thank you for rescuing Sieg."

Frankenstein nodded in agreement. "Uuu!"

"I do what I want; but if you guys are happy, it's fine. Now come on. Karna, carry me?"

"Alright."

Karna lifted Gudako into his arms, and disappeared into the distance, making use of his agility to quickly head to Yggdmillenia Castle. After a moment's hesitation, Siegfried, Frankenstein, and Arthur dematerialized, leaving Sieg and Astolfo alone.

"Well, shall we get going as well?" The androgynous Rider asked with a grin.

"Yes."

* * *

When everyone had gathered in the ruins of Yggdmillenia Castle, Vlad spoke up first. "As of now, the Greater Grail War has fallen apart. The Red Faction possesses the Great Grail but it is entirely controlled by one man: Amakusa Shirou Tokisada. Our main objective is to take him down. Through this incident, though, we have gained an ally formerly of the Red Faction." He gestured to Gudako, who gave a tired wave.

"My name's Fujimaru Ritsuka, but I prefer Gudako. Most of you I haven't told, but I'm a magus from the future. The easy story is I'm here to prevent Amakusa Shirou Tokisada from achieving his wish since that would bring ruin to humanity, but Zelretch actually sent me here for his amusement."

At the mention of the Wizard Marshall's name, Fiore and Gordes paled.

Noticing this, Gudako tried to smile sympathetically. "I'd apologize for messing up your war, but Amakusa's going to mess it up more than me. Zelretch also offered me a reward I couldn't refuse. Also, on an unrelated note. Vlad, how are you still alive?"

"I left Darnic confined in his room and barely alive," Vlad stated simply. "However, there is no other Master to contract with me and I must kill him soon for betraying me."

"Are you going to die then, and regret missing your opportunity to reach the Grail?"

"I would take the opportunity to contract with another Master, but there is no one here, is there?" Vlad asked, gazing pointedly at Gudako.

Noticing his gaze, she shot a questioning one back. "What?"

"Was what you were saying back at the Hanging Gardens true? And will you be able to contract with me?"

"No. Complete bluff. I am contracted to over 100 Servants-one of them being you, by the way-but it is impossible for me to call them here with just a Command Seal. I summoned Karna and Arthur with summoning circles, and even then, I've redirected Arthur's mana consumption to Sieg over here since I can't sustain the both of them during a fight. As for me contracting to you, I suppose I could because your Spirit Origin is different from the Vlad III I summoned back in Chaldea, but what would you do once the war is over? I doubt I can bring you back with me."

"That is fine. A temporary contract with you will suffice. I was summoned into this world and I will remain in this world until my end. The Black Faction is still able to redirect mana consumption, but it seems we are lacking homunculi..." Vlad turned to glare at Sieg, who stared back resolutely with no fear in his eyes.

"I will do it," a female voice spoke up, and all eyes turned to a short-haired homunculus with a bandaged leg.

"Tool?" Sieg asked.

"You rescued us, so this is the most logical way to pay you back," the female homunculus replied. She turned to Gudako. "What do I need to do?"

"Take this, for one," Gudako said, tossing a Book of the False Attendant and 3 quartz at Tool. "Drop the quartz into the book and I'll handle the rest." She went over to Vlad and took his hand, her Command Seals glowing brightly. They faded after a few seconds and she let go, and Tool nodded at her, feeling the slight prana drain.

Gordes eyed the book with obvious interest. "What does that do?"

"It's originally supposed to transfer Command Seals over to an unqualified Master and let the original Master handle the mana, but after I summoned Medea, she reversed the functions. I don't need to use them back home since we have prana generators that can sustain all the Servants during battle, but they have their uses. I believe the original creators were...the Matou? That's what Medusa said, at least."

"Matou? I have not heard of them."

"Uh...I think they used to be called the Makiri? One of the founding families for the Grail, or at least that's what Ishtar told me."

"And just how were you able to summon a goddess? Divine Spirits can't be summoned by the Grail!"

"Uhh...Ishtar's a Pseudo-Servant case. She possessed the body of a magus...I think her name was Tohsaka Rin. Look, you can ask me all you want later. We're here for a strategy meeting, not an interrogation session."

"You're working with us now?" Fiore asked. "Did you betray the Red Faction?"

"I never claimed to be part of them in the first place. Okay, I might have been leeching off them a bit, but I play for my side only. I'm working with you guys for now since that's clearly a better option. Don't worry; I have no desire to betray you. Our goals are the exact same; to take down Amakusa Shirou Tokisada."

"Do we have a concrete plan?" Caules asked.

"No; so we're formulating one. Where's Caster's Master, by the way?"

"Roche? He was pretty despondent after he realized Caster died, so I think he's sulking..."

Vlad subtly shook his head at Gudako, warning her not to tell the truth of what happened in the Gardens.

"Alright, so we're missing someone else, then..."

A loud crash caused some to jump, and everyone turned to the door to see a furious Mordred and a resigned-looking Kairi. "The party started without us?! Father! Why didn't you tell them to wait?!" Mordred stomped over to Arthur, causing most Servants to tense as they all knew the legend, but everyone gaped when Arthur simply smiled and ruffled Mordred's hair.

"Sorry, Mordred. I was about to, but they had other business to take care of. Now stop pouting. You're here now, aren't you?"

Everyone turned to stare at Gudako and Karna, who simply watched as if nothing was wrong.

"I thought King Arthur and Mordred had...issues?" Jeanne asked carefully.

"Not here they don't. Also, I know you know they're technically the Red Faction, but they're on my side. At this point, how about you guys just accept things as they are? It'll make understanding everything a whole lot easier. Oh, and by the way, Jack the Ripper is Assassin of Black and the cutest little girl you'll ever meet. I'll pass along any plans we make to her so we can include her in the fighting since she likes to dismember people just like she did with Astolfo's former Master."

"I don't think I get anything anymore," Caules groaned.

"Uuu!" Frankenstein agreed.

 **I'm not making Gudako that broken. She won't be able to call any Servants from Chaldea with just a Command Seal. Makes you wonder if she's going to summon any other Servants, right? Leave a review if you want, they make my day!**

 **Stratos263: Yes, she did.**

 **Calamari Inkantation: Wait and see~**

 **snoogenz: Wait and hope. I have something in mind.**

 **thundercharger123: Congrats on getting BB! You're ready to break the game. Mind giving me some of your luck to roll Gilgamesh on my JP account?**

 **GARNiDELiA: Hopefully you get Jeanne next year! I also hope you managed to finish Prisma Illya, Kuro's a really great Servant.**

 **BrokenLifeCycle: Wait and see~**

 **piddle: Aw, thanks!**

 **Guest: Honestly, that sounds like an fun idea but I'm probably not going to write that in.**

 **OneWhoCharms: You read her mind. Ah, the dilemma…**

 **Feriko Leonardi: Welcome to my crazy story in which I rarely update! Glad you enjoy the story and hope you stay until the end!**

 **Awayuki: Thank you so much!**

 **King of Fans: I see you snuck in Hakuno's name. Kuro's maxed in my Chaldea but I don't have enough gems to max her skills since there's also Arjuna and Nobunaga to max. Sad. I hope I portrayed Gudako's reaction to almost killing Darnic well enough.**

 **bent omaru: W-was I just called sensei? *faints* I'm glad you enjoy my story!**

 **KingKagura: Glad you enjoy my story! I'd recommend watching Apocrypha since I'm taking scenes from the anime and writing it in here, but it's your choice.**

 **Luigi the Dusk: Ehehe…I'm sorry…I'm bad at replying to messages. Really bad. Yeah, I played through the Apocrypha Collab event. I had to read the translations later and the plot was decent. I never really hated Sieg (more apathy since I was watching Apocrypha for Karna and Achilles), so my entire reaction towards the plot was meh. My policy when dealing with high-class magi are: the more powerful they actually are the more arrogant and idiotic they get. And I hope your question gets answered by this chapter. It's not the best answer but Gudako loves her Servants. Thanks for the review!**


	16. Chapter 15

**I…have nothing to say for myself. I'm sorry. Happy belated New Year, I guess. I'm alive, though. Just extremely stressed and done with real life. Hope your New Year's/Christmas rolls went well.**

 **Also, another note: Thanks for all your support, everyone! I never realized I'd get so many followers and favourites on this fic. Once again, I'm sorry for the late update. Very late replies to reviews are at the end of the chapter.**

* * *

"Are we all here now?" Jeanne asked once Mordred had settled down.

"Everyone that opposes Amakusa Shirou Tokisada, I think," Gudako said, yawning. "Let's get this over with before I fall asleep." True to her word, she was leaning on Karna's shoulder, eyes half-closed and her head buried into his fluffy fire cloak. Karna gently pushed her away and nudged her until she was sitting up straight.

"I was about to ask you for your input since you said you knew everything that was going to happen, but..." Jeanne trailed off as Gudako yawned again, clapping her cheeks to wake herself up.

"It'll take Semiramis and Amakusa around three days to prepare themselves to manipulate the Greater Grail to fulfil his wish," Gudako said. "You're going to have to figure out a plan to get into the Hanging Gardens on Babylon by then, disable the automated defences, take down the Red Servants and hopefully stop Amakusa from even making his wish. Which, by the way, is currently impossible with the Servants we currently have."

"What do you mean?" Vlad asked.

"Semiramis's defences are top-notch due to her Double Summon ability; allowing her to manifest as an Assassin with the abilities of a Caster. It's not like any of the Servants here have Noble Phantasms that nullify magic right now. I mean, I could summon Medea here..."

"Absolutely not," Karna and Arthur spoke in unison.

Gudako scowled. "You guys are no fun. I just need her Noble Phantasm. Please? It'll be temporary and she won't need much mana."

Karna and Arthur exchanged glances, mentally conversing for a few seconds before Arthur spoke. "Only if there is no other choice will we allow it."

"Love you guys too," Gudako sighed.

"Actually, I have a Noble Phantasm that can completely nullify magic," Astolfo piped up.

"What?!" Caules cried.

"I can only activate it the night of the full moon, though. Plus, I also forgot its True Name." The androgynous Rider giggled sheepishly.

"The next new moon is in 4 days...it will be too late by then," Fiore said.

Gudako groaned. "So this is the price I pay for speeding things up by a day. I'll think up something later. You guys can think up a plan to successfully distract the Red Faction, right? The more firepower or decoys the better. Now if you'll excuse me I really need to sleep." As soon as she finished her sentence, she closed her eyes and fell back into Karna's cloak.

Wordlessly, Karna lifted Gudako up, turning to Vlad. "Is there a place for her to sleep? From her current condition, she will remain asleep for a significant amount of time."

Vlad nodded and turned to a homunculus standing behind him. "Prepare a room for her."

The homunculus bowed, gesturing for Karna to follow him before he left.

"Father, are you staying?" Mordred asked Arthur.

"I will stay to pass on any further information on to Gudako," Arthur replied. "You can hold your discussions without her input-she can add her information tomorrow."

"All we need right now is a plan to attack and infiltrate the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, right?" Sieg asked.

Arthur nodded.

"Well then, can I propose something...?" Caules asked.

Vlad turned his eyes on the younger Forvedge sibling. "What do you have in mind?"

With a slight stutter in his tone, Caules began explaining his plan.

Gudako opened her eyes to find herself in her bedroom back in Chaldea. "Huh...was I dreaming the entire thing?" Sitting up, she glanced around her room. Her charger was still stuck in the wall, and everything remained the exact same as she had left it.

Wait.

Her belongings had been moved around slightly. Maybe Emiya had gotten in to clean up a bit? A more possible candidate would be Mashu, though. The candy basket on her desk was gone as well, replaced by an apology note written by Robin. _Sorry for taking your candy, Master, but I needed some way to bait Ibaraki. I'll make it up when you come back. ~Robin_

Gudako got out of her bed, and only then did she notice her entire body was transparent.

"Oh great, I'm dead. Best way to come back home," she groaned.

Deciding to explore the rest of Chaldea, she walked through the door and into the hallways, making her way to the cafeteria. On the way, she noted that no one acknowledged her presence, which meant she was definitely dreaming. She passed by an arguing Nero and Elizabeth (with an exasperated Tamamo watching both of them), Gawain flirting with one of the staff (what was the person's name again?), and surprisingly, even her beloved kouhai dragging Lancelot away from Da Vinci's workshop.

(She snickered at that scene, knowing that the purple-haired Saber would be thoroughly scolded by Mashu later.)

Peeking into the kitchen, Gudako saw Emiya cooking with Boudica. Saber Alter lurked outside in casual clothing, munching away on a burger. She smiled at the familiar scene and turned to leave, but then she heard Emiya say her name.

"...wonder how Gudako's doing."

"I do hope she's safe," Boudica said worriedly. "Karna and Arthur may be there to protect her, but I doubt it's enough. She wouldn't have ended up in a place with a harsh climate, right?"

"No," Emiya replied. "I asked around regarding the Great Holy Grail War. Romania is a relatively mild place. Gudako will be fine as long as she keeps a cool head. The problem would be how she manages herself in a true Holy Grail War."

"You're right," Boudica replied. "It's nothing like the singularities. A full-out battle between magi and other Servants, and she has close to no support from us. Speaking of Chaldea though...we're still able to contain the more chaotic Servants, right?"

"Worse comes to worst we'll just incapacitate them," Emiya said with a shrug. "She's been gone for about three days and Zelretch said she'd be back in a week, so we just have to hold out for four more days. I never expected that many to go crazy the moment she disappeared, though. Guess that shows just how much control a Master has."

"Do you really trust that...that vampire?"

Emiya shook his head, exasperation in his features. "I've dealt with him a number of times. He does a lot of things out of boredom. Including messing with universes."

Gudako turned away and ran down the hall before she could hear Boudica's reply, as she had just seen Kiyohime approach the kitchen. She did not want to go near the Berserker, no matter if she was a spirit or not.

She stopped near the general room, looking inside to see Marie and Jeanne conversing with Mozart playing the piano nearby. Sanson and D'Eon hovered in the area, both shooting wary glances at Caster Gilles de Rais, who was staring at Jeanne. Farther away from them was Edmond, watching the entire scene with a dispassionate gaze. Jeanne Alter was nowhere to be seen, which was mildly strange because she usually hung around her fellow Avenger. Maybe she was sparring?

Gudako drifted closer to Edmond, settling down beside him on the couch. She jumped, however, when she heard him speak. "Welcome back to Chaldea, my Master." He turned his head to meet her gaze, his lips curling into a smirk.

"Y-you can see me?!" Gudako squeaked.

"I can hear your voice and sense your presence, but I cannot see you. How goes the Great Holy Grail War?"

Gudako gave him a brief breakdown of what happened as well as her current problems. Edmond listened silently, his face unreadable. When she finished, he spoke. "Do not be afraid to try what seems to be impossible."

"...Edmond?"

"If you call for me, I will come, no matter how far away you may be, Master. Now, you should wake up. Bring down your enemies with no mercy." His smirk settled into a small smile. "Do come back quickly; or else Chaldea will fall into a state of disorder."

"Got it. Thanks, Edmond!" Even as she spoke, Gudako could feel herself floating away from Chaldea.

The last things she saw were Edmond's golden eyes, alight with amusement.

Gudako opened her eyes, staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling. She turned her head and saw Arthur sitting beside her, a smile on his face. "Good morning, Gudako. Did you sleep well?"

"Not bad, I guess. Where am I?"

"In a guest bedroom in Yggdmillenia Castle. You've been asleep for around 12 hours."

"Oh. Wow. Guess I won't be needing any coffee for a while. Where's Karna?"

"Sparring with Siegfried."

"Oh." Gudako sat up and stretched. "Do we have a plan yet?"

"Yes." Arthur summarized the plans Caules had laid out the night before, and Gudako nodded.

"That's what they did last time. With enough mana, Medea would also be able to deal her own damage to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Guess I'll summon her now." Gudako swung her legs over the bed and onto the ground, only to wince as her stomach growled. "On second thought, I'm going to eat something first."

"I'll take you to the dining room, then."

After practically inhaling her breakfast, Gudako went to see Vlad for permission to use the Black Faction's summoning circle. He readily gave it but asked that he be allowed to watch. Gudako let him. Somewhere along the way, everyone else minus Mordred, Kairi, and Roche ended up in the chamber as well.

"I really don't get why you guys are interested," Gudako sighed. "It's nothing special...oh wait, I'm screwed."

"Master?" Arthur asked.

"I just realized I don't have anything that could summon Medea and I need one. Okay, what's Plan B?"

"You don't have a Plan B?" Sieg asked.

"Nope."

"Actually..." Arthur spoke. "If all you need is someone who can nullify magic, can't you summon someone like Emiya?"

Gudako stared uncomprehendingly for a moment before her eyes lit up. "Arthur, you're a genius! And I have his catalyst on me so this is going to work!"

"Who are you talking about?" Vlad asked.

"Emiya is considered a Heroic Spirit from the near future, but he's also a Counter-Guardian," Karna answered.

"In life, he was a third-rate magus, but his elemental affinity and Origin were aligned, and he participated in the Fifth Holy Grail War of his time," Gudako added. "He's pretty cool." Gudako pulled a card with an image of a red pendant and dropped it into the summoning circle, and then took out 3 Saint Quartz. All the magi in the room gasped at the sheer power emanating from it.

"So much mana..." Caules breathed.

"You're not getting any," Gudako shot back. "They're _mine_." She placed the quartz next to the catalyst and stepped back, sending a burst of prana from her circuits into the circle. The circle glowed brightly as both catalyst and quartz were consumed, and the figure of a tall white-haired man in red and black armour materialized.

The man opened his eyes and calmly looked around the room, analyzing his surroundings. His eyes then landed on Gudako. "Good grief, what a troublesome Master you are. What do you need me for?"

"To blast some stuff," Gudako replied casually. "I didn't catch you in the middle of cooking now, did I?"

"No, but I was with Boudica and Kiyohime. You'll be in trouble when you return."

Gudako groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Kill me now."

Ignoring her, Emiya turned to nod at Arthur and Karna. "Thanks for taking good care of her. We're all worried about her well-being."

"How is the situation back at Chaldea?" Karna asked.

"Blackbeard, Mephistopheles, and some other trouble Servants are being monitored by Okita and a few others, and the Berserkers haven't broken anything yet although Kintoki's had to restrain Raikou from attacking the oni a few times. The doctor's been sending the occasional party to minor singularities for supply runs, but each team is made up of level-headed Servants. No one's been killed yet."

"Huh, sounds like you guys are fine without me," Gudako said. Remembering she wasn't alone, she turned to Emiya. "How about you introduce yourself to the Black Faction and then we'll make a plan?"

Emiya nodded. "But first, Master..." He had a certain glint in his eye.

Gudako noticed and took a step back, a nervous expression on her face. "Yes, Emiya...san?"

"What were you thinking when you agreed with Zelretch's idea? Did you have any consideration for the consequences when we found out that you disappeared? Almost everyone freaked out and had no idea if you were safe! Honestly, I thought I taught you better..." Emiya continued to lecture Gudako, while everyone else watched in amazement.

"Are you sure he's a Servant?" Fiore whispered to Arthur.

Arthur gave her a reassuring pat. "Emiya tends to be a bit overprotective of Gudako. Most of the Servants in Chaldea are."

"I get it, _Mom!_ " Gudako finally whined. "You can lecture me later. Let's just get this done and over with so we can go home, okay?!"

"No, you are not off the hook," Emiya shot back. "I expect you to fully think over your actions once we go back home."

"Yes, Mom."

"Don't call me Mom."

"Whatever, Mom."

"Emiya? Master? You two can continue this later."

"We are at a disadvantage when considering the number of Servants on each side that can fight," Semiramis commented in the vault where the Greater Grail rested.

"It matters not," Amakusa replied. "Gudako was bluffing. She cannot summon any other Servants to her aid from her world with a single Command Seal. I also have a plan to add two Servants to our numbers."

"Two?"

"Normally, in a Holy Grail War, defeated Servants are transferred to the Holy Grail since they are in essence one mass of prana. It is impossible to retrieve their spirit cores, but since this is the Greater Grail, I am able to use my Ruler-class authority to recall the fallen Servants back onto the field. As a cost, though, their Noble Phantasms will be sealed and they have no sense of self. However, they are still Servants, and will greatly increase our advantage."

"So, you will summon Caster and Berserker of Black?"

"Yes. Let us begin."

Amakusa Shirou Tokisada would not lose. Not until he had achieved his wish.

* * *

 **This probably isn't how the Greater Grail works, but Gudako's faction can't have a complete upper hand. And so, Amakusa's plan is to gather Shadow Servants. And let's welcome everyone's favourite mother into the scene: Emiya Shirou himself! A note before replying to reviews: once again, I'm very, very sorry for the late reply. I hope you still enjoy this story. We're almost at the end!**

 **Stratos263: Very different from canon. :)**

 **Fall2Glory: Or will she?**

 **Gabriel790: Thanks for always reviewing! Sorry for being extremely late for this one. Hope you continue to read this story.**

 **TrueVirtuoso: Not in Gudako's timeline yet. Also, regarding your other review, I have absolutely no idea who you're referring to.**

 **skoren: *gasps* Someone called me senpai? Uwahhhh you don't know how happy I was when I first read your review. I'm glad you like the story! Hopefully you didn't abandon it after my months-long absence.**

 **OneWhoCharms: Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked how the plot went.**

 **Jose-B-DragonMarino: I hope this chapter evens out the teams somewhat.**

 **PasiveNox: Thank you!**

 **valkiria1996-pd: I'm glad you like my fic! I never realized I'd be getting readers from Peru, so this is really cool. Maybe I'll get a fic about Karna, Arjuna and Gudako out some other time.**

 **King of Fans: Glad you liked my ideas! I just wanted more minor characters to have a more important role. The advantages the Red Faction has are noted, but I do have a plan for it. Emiya's part of it. Rip your quartz, I hope you saved more.**

 **RadioPoisoning: True.**

 **Sakamaki Suzuku: Ah, school. Too relatable. Once during a math test, Carnival Phantasm's OP was stuck in my head and I could barely concentrate. Rip my mark. School is actually the main reason I haven't updated. Exams, exams, marks, and yeah. Sad reality. And yes, I totally agree with you on the subject of school starting later. I hate waking up early. Don't worry about generic comments, literally anything positive makes my day. I just need confirmation that you guys read and enjoyed this. I know I'm a few months late, but hope that history unit test went well. All the best on your other tests/exams!**

 **JdkLeBleau728: Thank you so much for reviewing! I'm honestly feeling pretty bad that this chapter came out so late. By the time you read this, Babylon and Solomon (cries) are already released and I'm desperately waiting on Shinjuku. As for CE questions…hm, summoning Muramasa with Limited/Zero Over sounds viable but I'd rather not get anything about him wrong when DW finally decides to release him, so he's out for now. As for mapo tofu…Gudako hates its very existence, so she refuses to touch it. Bond CEs are not tackled in this story, although it makes for an interesting plot device. Thanks again!**


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